A Day in the Life of Leo Valdez
by elephantlover123
Summary: The Seven are forced to watch Leo's memories. slightly overused, but I hope you'll read it anyway! Rated T because I'm paranoid, but who isn't?
1. Chapter 1

**A/N Hi! So this story is basically the seven watching Leo's memories, and it's based on Learning about Leo by mewsugarpudd , The Truth Behind the Mask by Zoeythezany III, and Everybody Loves Leo by** **Icyblast51, all of which were amazing and I loved, so you should definitely go check them out. The title was a suggestion by my friend Sylvia, so thanks to her! Anyway, on with the story!**

Chapter One

Hera POV

The Queen of the Gods watched from above as Leo Valdez pounded on a piece of Celestial Bronze, utterly absorbed in his work. Annabeth and Percy were on the deck, Percy killing any monsters and Annabeth was driving. Jason and Piper were in Jason's cabin, talking, and Frank and Hazel were eating in the mess hall.

Hera shook her head at the fact that no one cared about what Leo was doing, in fact, she had been watching the seven for most of the morning, and no one had checked on him for about six hours. He hadn't even been mentioned by the rest of them. It looked like they were too absorbed in their lives to notice that Leo, one of the most important members of the prophecy, hadn't even eaten that morning. Or that afternoon, for that matter.

She knew they were busy, but they were so busy they couldn't even check up on one their friends, ask him how his work was going? Obviously they understood nothing about him. Of course, she was the Queen of the Gods, and as such, had a plan for one of her favorite demigods. She hadn't baby sat him when he was younger for nothing, you know, even if he was the son of her cursed son.

Brushing off her robes, she disappeared from where she had been previously watching the son of Hephaestus and instead reappeared right in front of him. Startled, Leo dropped his hammer and cried out, stumbling backwards.

"Woah, Tía, what was that for?" He said, bending down to pick his fallen hammer. "Besides, I thought the Gods went quiet, why are you even here?"

Ignoring his use of the word Tía, she calmly responded. "To help you, of course. I thought I picked you because you were smart."

He rolled his eyes. "How can YOU help me? What do you know about mechanics?"

"Oh, I'm not helping you with mechanics, Leo Valdez. I'm helping you with letting your friends get to know you better, so you'll trust each other more."

"Wait, what? How exactly do you plan on getting my friends know me better? All I've ever seen you do is cause trouble."

"I do not cause trouble, Leo Valdez."

He raised his eyebrows. "Really? Because the way I see it, you tried to kill me multiple times before I even knew about demigods, got kidnapped, causing trouble for everyone trying to get you back, erased Percy and Jason's memories, and more. That all sounds like causing trouble to me."

"I did not try to kill you, I was training you to become a hero! And the rest was necessary in order to let you demigods unite."

"You didn't babysit anyone else. I never saw you try to get Percy or Annabeth to poke a snake with a stick. And necessary? I'm sure you could have thought of plenty of other ways to get the demigods to unite, that didn't involve erasing memories, using the Mist, or kidnapping and moving people across the U.S."

"Whatever, that holds no importance right now. What is important now is your friends knowing you better."

"Yeah, and you never answered my question on how you plan on doing that. Do you want us to have a lovely heart to heart, maybe play a nice game of Truth or Dare?"

"Very funny, Valdez. No, I was planning on letting them see your memories."

"WHAT? You can't do that! That's personal! I refuse to allow you to do that."

"Well, if you won't cooperate I guess I'll have to resort to other methods. Your friends will see your memories, Leo Valdez, whether you allow it or not."

With that, Hera waved her hand, and Leo slumped down onto the floor, completely unconscious.

Hazel POV

Hazel had been talking with Frank in the mess hall, when a sudden wave of nausea hit her. Curse boats and seasickness! Telling Frank she would be right back, she ran to the bathroom, when suddenly she heard a cry and a thump coming from Leo's room. Nausea forgotten, she ran to the door, knocking and calling out to Leo.

"Leo? Are you okay? What happened?" Getting no response, she cursed and opened the door herself. What she saw shocked her.

Leo was passed out on the floor, curls falling across his forehead, and a hammer forgotten in his hand. Hazel didn't know what had happened, but she knew he needed ambrosia, and she didn't have any on her.

"Jason, Piper, Frank, get down here! Leo's unconscious!" Footsteps immediately came running across the ship, and Jason, Piper, and Frank appeared.

"Oh my gods! What happened?" Piper asked, kneeling next to Leo and brushing his hair out of his face.

"I don't know," Hazel replied. "I was seasick, when I heard a crash and came in here, then called you guys."

"He needs ambrosia. Who has it?" Piper asked, looking around.

"I think Annabeth has most of it, but she's driving."

"Who cares!? Leo needs it, and I'm sure the ship has autopilot or something."

"I'll go ask Annabeth." Frank said, who had previously been standing around awkwardly, considering he and Leo weren't on the best terms.

A few minutes later, more footsteps were heard, and Frank came back, with Percy and Annabeth in tow. Crowding into the cabin, Annabeth started to get down next to Leo, when suddenly the doors locked from the outside, leaving them trapped.

"What was that?" asked Percy, pulling out Riptide and looking around.

"That would have been me." Said a voice from the back corner of the room. Hazel looked around, searching for the owner of the voice, her friends following her example, when Hera suddenly materialized from the shadows.

"Hera?" asked Annabeth, who looked half confused and half annoyed to see the Queen of the Gods standing there."

"Humph. That will be Lady Hera to you, Annabeth Chase."

"Whatever, Hera. Why are you even here?"

Ignoring the fact that Annabeth refused to respect her title, Hera suddenly started to smile. "I'm going to show you some of Leo Valdez's memories, of course. So you'll learn to respect him more, and improve the trust between you." She glanced around, murmuring about how she would have to move them all because there wasn't enough room or something.

"Wait, you're going to show us his memories? That's an invasion of privacy!" Percy said, who still had Riptide uncapped, he obviously didn't trust Hera at all.

Piper and Jason nodded their heads in agreement. "You can't make us watch Leo's memories without his permission!" Piper exclaimed. "He'll tell us about himself when he's ready."

Hera muttered something about insolent demigods, before straightening up and saying in a calm, controlled, yet somewhat forced voice "Leo Valdez has made it clear he will not tell you about his past himself, so I am going to show you his memories myself. It is essential you know about him and his past to succeed on this quest. None of you pay attention to him unless you have to, and I am here to fix that. I have lived on this planet for a long time, and I have made some enemies and friends during that time." Hazel heard Annabeth mutter "You have friends? Wow. I never would've guessed." Hera paused her speech to glare at Annabeth before continuing. "Hypnos has put Leo Valdez in a deep sleep to allow you to watch his memories, and he cannot be awakened unless I do it myself."

"Wait, what about the quest?" Percy asked, glaring at Hera.

"Put away the sword, Perseus Jackson. I have called in a few favors, and no time will pass while you watch Valdez's memories. There is nothing you can do about it."

Grumbling, Percy capped Riptide and slid the pen back in his pocket.

"Now, I suppose I will have to move you. I don't know how Valdez can work in here, it's way too crowded." Looking around, Hazel saw Hera was right. The floor and bed was covered in blueprints and tools, and everyone was looking slightly cramped from being enclosed in such a small place so long.

Suddenly the room started spinning, and there was a sudden burst of light. Then Hazel, who was starting to feel nauseous again, found herself in a large room, complete with what she what she recognized from Leo trying to bring her up to speed on modern technology, a flat screen T.V. There was a couch and chairs for the demigods to sit on in front of the T.V., and Leo was curled up on a mattress in the corner of the room. Jason tried to walk over to him, but was stopped by an invisible shield protecting Leo.

The rest of the seven seemed to have accepted that they had to watch Leo's memories, and sat down on the couch or chairs. Jason sat down next to Piper, rubbing his forehead from when he ran into the wall. Percy and Annabeth were curled up next to each other on the couch, and Hazel sat down onto one of the chairs next to Frank.

Then the T.V. clicked on, and the memory watching began.

 **A/N So there's chapter one, I don't know when I'll update again, because I'm usually busy with school work. Please review if you loved or hated it, I welcome any feedback and constructive criticism. Also, I'm trying to make this as original as possible, so any ideas are welcome! Thanks again!**


	2. Chapter 2

**A/N Thanks for all the reviews, follows, and favs guys! I really appreciate it, and as you can see, it inspired me to write the second chapter. I hope you enjoy it!**

 **Also, I forgot the disclaimer in the last chapter so here it is: I do not own Leo (although I wish I did!) or any other characters you recognize from PJO or HOO.**

Chapter Two

Jason POV

Jason still didn't really understand why Hera was so into them watching Leo's memories. Sure, maybe Frank, Hazel, or Percy didn't get Leo as much as the rest of them did, but they all respected and trusted him. And while Leo never really talked about his past, they all knew he had run away from his foster homes six times and Gaea tricked him into setting the fire that killed his mom. Leo never really got into the small details of his life, but he had told them most of the major stuff, right? What was so important about Leo that made Hera think they had to watch his memories in order to understand him?

He settled down next to Piper, and reached over and held her hand. She flashed him a small smile, and then the T.V. flickered on.

It opened on a hospital room, and panned onto a small boy, sitting in the chair in the corner, crying softly, hands on his head, looking down at the floor. There was a two women arguing on the other side of the room, one holding the hand of another boy that looked about two years older than the one who was crying. They were the only occupants of the waiting room, and the argument seemed to echo around the walls, making almost impossible not to hear.

The camera zoomed onto the boy crying, and it was obvious that it was Leo, who looked about eight or so. Then the camera moved around, focusing instead on the two ladies.

"You are the closest family he has!" One woman screamed. She looked like she was in her 30's, very pretty with her blond hair in a ponytail and wearing a nice dress, holding a clipboard.

"I don't care! He killed the closest family I had! He is a murderer! A diablo!" The other woman yelled back. She was slightly older than the other woman, and was obviously of Spanish decent. She had black hair, and a mole on her chin, and if you looked closely resembled Leo a lot. The glare in her eyes shot daggers at the woman and Leo, who was still huddled in the corner, alternatively. The boy who was with her looked almost exactly like Leo, except bigger and meaner.

Jason heard Hazel mutter Aunt Rosa. He assumed she was talking about the second woman, but how would she know her? And why did she look like she wanted to strangle the woman on the screen? Jason shot a look at Frank, who instantly put a reassuring hand on Hazel's shoulder, which calmed her down. They turned their attention back to the screen.

With every word the second lady said, Leo shrunk deeper into his chair, sobs slowly growing louder. "Please think about it! Don't abandon him! He needs family right now." The blond woman said, looking directly into the other woman's (Aunt Rosa?) eyes.

"If he needs family so much, why would he kill his mother? The child is nothing but trouble. I refuse to let him ever cross the threshold of my house again!" With those words she marched over to Leo, who shrunk even further, slouching until he was almost off the chair, with the unknown boy trailing behind her.

"Aunt Rosa." He mumbled. He sounded so broken, everyone in the room flinched. Leo slowly raised his head until his dark brown eyes matched hers.

"You are a diablo. You have always been troubled, and even went so far as to actually murder someone. You are a disgrace, and I refuse to ever take you in, and I'll make sure none of your other family member's do either." With that she slapped him, causing Leo's head to snap to the side, and walked out, calling "come on Raphael!" as she left. The boy, now identified as Raphael, smirked at Leo and hurried next to his mom, the doors closing with a bang behind them.

The waiting room was completely silent except for Leo's loud sobs, his chest heaving. The other women hurried next to him, dropping her clipboard onto the ground, kneeling down, and pulled Leo toward her. She whispered soothing words into his ear, trying to calm him down. Once he had mostly calmed down, he glanced up at her. "Who are you?"

The blond woman gave a painful smile. "I'm Daisy Sabra. It looks like I'm going to be your social worker."

"You seem nice," Leo muttered. "And pretty."

Daisy smiled and chuckled a little. "Thank you Leo. I'll take you to a nice place for the night, alright?"

Leo tried to smile through his tears, which were starting to dry on his cheeks, leaving tear tracks behind. Wiping his eyes he stood up. "Okay, let's go."

"It'll be alright Leo. You'll see." With that Daisy and Leo both left the room, leaving an empty waiting room behind. The T.V. flickered off, it seemed like Hera was giving them time to reflect on what they had seen.

Jason glanced around the room. Piper, Annabeth, and Hazel were all silently crying, Percy looked murderous, and Frank was completely shocked. Piper suddenly leaned toward him, whispering "Why didn't we know? We should've known!"

"He never told us." Jason responded.

Hazel suddenly cleared her throat. "I knew." She said. It would explain why she had identified the woman before everyone else. Everyone looked at her for an explanation. "When Leo and I were getting supplies, back at the Great Salt Lake, we met Nemesis. Nemesis appeared as the person you most wanted to get revenge on. For me, it was my third grade English teacher, Mrs. Leer, but for Leo, it was his Aunt Rosa. He told me she was the person who gave him up to foster care. That's all he ever said."

Jason was puzzled. They had mentioned seeing Nemesis, but Leo had never said anything about an Aunt Rosa. It made him wonder what else Leo was hiding from them. He had always seemed so happy, it was almost impossible to believe that something like that had happened to him. Obviously they didn't know Leo as well as they first thought.

Piper was muttering things Coach Hedge would've been proud of, such as "if I ever see that woman again, I'll kill her", or "she's just lucky there's such a great distance between her and my knife, otherwise I'll murder her on the spot."

Annabeth was trying to focus on the bright side. "At least that Daisy woman looked nice. She was probably a really great social worker. Leo was probably really lucky to have her." Jason privately agreed, Leo was definitely in better hands with Daisy than any of his family members.

Frank was still staring at the blank screen in shock, as someone who was never really close to Leo, considering Leo's love of teasing him, he was probably reconsidering his thoughts of Leo completely.

Hazel looked completely embarrassed, like she was berating herself on not mentioning the Aunt Rosa/Nemesis thing earlier. Jason leaned over to her. "Look Hazel, you barely knew more than we did. All he told you was that Aunt Rosa gave him over to foster care, he didn't mention how she utterly abused him while doing so. It's not your fault." Hazel gave him a small smile, and Jason saw she wasn't blaming herself as badly.

Percy looked terrifying, but since loyalty was his fatal flaw, it would make sense, considering Leo was one of his friends. He seemed to be muttering the same threats as Piper, except a little more detailed and gruesome.

Then the T.V. flickered back on, obviously holding the next memory. Everyone sat up straighter, and the next memory began.

 **Please review! Again, I can't promise the next time I'll update, but I'll try to do one or two chapters a week. Ideas are appreciated! Thanks!**


	3. Chapter 3

**A/N Hey guys! Sorry for the wait, this chapter was actually ridiculously hard to write, I couldn't come up with a decent plot. But I finally got something, so I hope you enjoy it! Also, thanks to CrazyBlueOwl for the idea for this story, it was really helpful! Also, the memory is in bold, just to distinguish between the memory and the extra (thanks CrazyBlueOwl for that too!)**

 **Disclaimer: I do not own my favorite character in the HOO, which is Leo, or anyone else you may recognize from PJO or HOO**

Chapter Three

Percy's POV

Percy was shocked that Leo's aunt had treated him like that. He was her nephew after all, and right after his mom had died no less. Percy didn't really know Leo very well, they never really talked, and they had definitely gotten off on a bad start when they first met. But he still considered Leo as his friend, they were actually very similar in a lot of ways. And Percy couldn't stand his friends getting hurt, even when they didn't know each other very well (his fatal flaw was loyalty for a reason, after all). He was so mad he was literally shaking with rage, muttering threats under his breath. But once the T.V. came back to life, with more in store for them, Annabeth pulled him close, effectively calming him down. Hopefully this memory was better than the last one, at least.

 **Leo was seated on a small wooden chair across from Daisy, who was behind her desk. They were in a small but comfortable office, which was dimly lit with most of the light coming from a lamp on Daisy's desk. It sounded like the memory had started in the middle of the discussion, because they were already deep in conversation.**

 **"It's a small family, the parents and their two kids, Claire and Aidan. I think you'll really like them!" Daisy was saying, trying to persuade an irritated looking Leo.**

 **"But I don't WANT to go with them! They're total strangers! What if they're mean?"**

 **"Daisy sight. "How about this. You spend a week with them, and if you don't like them we'll send you somewhere else."**

 **"Fine." Leo mumbled, staring at the floor.**

"What are they talking about?" Percy whispered to Annabeth, who gave him an "Are you kidding me?" kind of look.

"They're talking about foster homes, Seaweed Brain! What did you think they were talking about?"

"I don't know," Percy mumbled, but he quickly shut up when he realized everyone else was glaring at him.

 **Under the new picture on the screen there were the words, "2 days later." Daisy and Leo were now standing in what looked like the entryway of a really big house.**

 **Leo was standing awkwardly in the middle of the room, wearing a jacket and had a backpack slung over one shoulder. He was tapping his foot impatiently, and was running his hands through his curly hair. Daisy was standing next to him, holding what looked like the clipboard from the first video, and the way she was standing made it clear that this was a thing she had done a million times before.**

 **Suddenly the doors opened and a family of four walked into the room. The parents were looking slightly rushed and nervous, and there was a little girl who looked like she was about four or five, who was looking like Christmas had come early, and a boy, who was most likely a teenager, wearing a hoodie and had a phone sticking out of one pocket. He looked half annoyed and half excited, like he had been pulled out of something important to come along.**

 **The parents looked around, and Daisy strolled over to them, Leo trudging behind her at a much slower pace.**

 **"Are you the McCrery's?" Daisy asked, sounding very professional.**

 **"Yes, the woman replied, obviously relieved, "And you must be Daisy Sabra."**

 **"Yep." Daisy said, sounding cheerful, and then pulled Leo from behind her so he was facing the McCrery family. "And this is Leo Valdez, the boy who will be joining you."**

 **"Hi Leo!" Said Claire, rushing up to him and throwing her arms around him. Leo hugged her back, looking a little overwhelmed.**

 **Daisy, looking amused, announced, "Leo, this is the family you will be staying with. Mrs. and Mr. McCrery, Claire, who you've already met, and Aidan." Aidan gave a bored kind of wave, like, wassup, Claire hugged him tighter, and the parents just said hi. Leo said hi back, looking between them and Daisy, with a "help me!" look on his face. It was clear he had never done this before.**

 **Daisy chuckled, and then said "I'll give you guys some space to get to know each other a little more. I'll be right back with rest of the papers you'll need to sign, okay?" Everyone else nodded, and she retreated, leaving them all staring each other in awkward silence.**

 **Then Claire, who had finally released Leo, suddenly bombarded him with questions from "What's your favorite color? Do you like dogs? We have a dog! His name is Sandy. He's very nice. What's your favorite food? Mine's pizza. Especially with cheese. I love cheese!"**

 **Leo tried his best to answer all of her questions, until Mr. McCrery finally stepped forward and put his hand on her shoulder, which immediately silenced her. "It's nice to meet you, Leo. We're really looking forward to having you in our home." Leo mumbled, "Me too," which was an obvious lie to anyone to actually knew him. He was looking at the door like considering if he could make a run for it.**

 **Then Mrs. McCrery gave her husband a look that said "Shut up! You're obviously scaring him, let me take care of this." He shrugged and stepped backward, and Mrs. McCrery stepped in front of Leo. "I'm sorry about all of this. It must be hard for you, adjusting to a new place, and we'll try to give you some space, okay?" Leo nodded, looking a little less nervous, and Daisy came back in with the forms, waving them in the air.**

 **The video suddenly skipped forward a bit, to a bedroom with two beds, which looked like it had just been cleaned. There were some band posters on the walls, and a laptop was open on the desk. Leo was standing in the doorway, looking anxious, and suddenly Aidan appeared out of nowhere behind him. "This is your side of the room," he said, pointing to the left of the room, "and that's mine." He said, pointing to the right this time.**

 **"Okay, thanks." Said Leo, and walked over to the designated bed, threw his backpack down, then looked around, obviously uncertain of what to do next. Aidan had stalked over to his desk, and plopped down in front of the open laptop. After a minute of complete silence, Aidan sighed then turned around in his chair.**

 **"Look," he said "I know we're not your actual family, and I'm sure you would probably rather be anywhere than here, but this is how it worked out, okay? And you have a week to decide whether you want to stay or not, and right now that's probably a no, but my whole family wants you here. Claire was so excited when she heard you were staying here, she ran around the entire house for about 2 hours, which seems impossible, but believe me, it's not. It gave me a migraine she was so loud! Anyway, just give us chance, okay? Claire is really happy, my mom and dad are excited about it, and even I think it's kind of cool to have a little brother, but don't you dare say that to anyone else, okay? I have a bad boy reputation to maintain, after all."**

 **Leo smiled and promised he wouldn't tell anyone else. "And Aidan?" he asked.**

 **"Yeah?" Aidan said, as he turned around again, putting an earbud into one ear.**

 **"Thanks. I'll give you guys a chance, Claire seems nice enough after all. So when do I get to meet Sandy?"**

 **As in response to his question, the sound of barking and screaming came from the hallway. "Leo! Leo come here! Meet our dog, Sandy! Leo!" Aidan smiled and waved to the door. Right now I guess, have fun with him. Leo smiled and ran out the door to the impatient dog and enthusiastic girl.**

 **Aidan laughed to himself as he turned back to his computer, seemingly satisfied with the improvement in Leo's mood, and with that the screen went black.**

Looking around the room, Percy could tell everyone was really happy for Leo. He had gotten a nice family, and he definitely deserved it after his aunt disowning him so abruptly. Piper, Annabeth, and Hazel looked were smiling, and Percy could've sworn Piper was close to tears with happiness, and Jason looked almost as happy. Frank looked like he wasn't sure whether he should be happy or not, but was grinning a little bit. Annabeth leaned closer to Percy's ear and whispered "I'm glad he got people who were nice to him."

"Me too, Wise Girl, me too." And while they all enjoyed a moment of blissful silence and Leo's success of finding a nice foster home, Percy couldn't help wondering, if the McCrery's were so happy to have him, why did he run away?

 **A/N So, that's chapter three! (Sorry for making you guys wait so long!) Also, at first I was going to make this a lot longer, with the reason for Leo running away included, but it seemed like a good place to stop, so I did. Please PM or review me on whether I should add a second part to this chapter, with him running away! Also, again, I welcome any feedback, constructive criticism, or new ideas, it's always appreciated! I might update again sometime this weekend if I have time, so yeah! Peace out!**


	4. Chapter 4

**A/N Hey guys! So this is a continuation of the last chapter, partly because I wanted to do it, partly because sickly-wicked told me I should (thanks for that!) and partly because no one told me I shouldn't. Thanks for all the reviews, favs, and follows guys! It really makes my day!**

 **Also, I would like to give a big shout-out to my friend Sylvia (the very same who came up with the title) for helping come up with this idea after over an hour of Facebook messaging (I checked), and reading it over for me! So yeah! Thanks! (And the penguins say hi!)**

 **Disclaimer: I have never, and will never, own PJO and HOO, because I can't (sobs) which means anything you recognize from any of those books doesn't belong to me! Glad we got that cleared up!**

 **Let the chapter begin!**

Chapter Four

Piper POV

Piper was in shock. Leo had been through so much, and she didn't even realize it. He had been disowned by his family? How had Piper not known? She was his supposed "best friend", they had had done so much together at Wilderness School before Jason came (even though the Jason part was actually the Mist, but still), and she didn't know anything about his past. Sure, Leo had kept quiet about his life before Wilderness School, all she really knew was he had run away six times. But she had to know more about him than that, right? Obviously not. She shook her head in disgust at herself for not noticing, and Jason threw a small smile her way, which made her feel a little better. The T.V. started up again, and Piper steeled herself for more bad memories to come.

 **This time, the memory started what looked like a dining room. It was set up really nicely, with a clean white tablecloth spread around a circular table, with a single candle in the middle. The lights were off, so the flame on the candle lit up the whole room, giving it a sort of haunted look. There was a variety of dishes around the table, and a family of five was seated around it, chatting and talking. Upon the camera moving closer, it was obvious to see that the family was the McCrery's, from the last video, and Leo.**

 **"Seriously, guys, you didn't have to do this for me." Leo was saying.**

 **"It was our pleasure Leo, it's nice to have someone else in the house for a change." Mrs. McClery commented, to which Aidan, who was sitting across from his mom, rolled his eyes.**

 **"Come on, Mom, you're just embarrassing him." To this Leo started actually looking really embarrassed, and tried to change the subject.**

 **"So what's going on in your life, Claire?" To which Claire started rambling about random stuff, Leo looked relieved, Aidan and Mrs. McClery laughed, and Mr. McClery looked really confused.**

 **The rest of the dinner passed the same way, with them talking, laughing, and changing the subject every five minutes.**

 **But the good mood didn't last long. Just as they were almost finished with their dinner, diaster struck. Diaster in the form of a dog. A dog whose name happened to be Sandy.**

 **"Sandy! Come here Sandy! Good dog!" Claire exclaimed happily, as Sandy bounded up to her. Everyone was laughing, and apparently that encouraged Sandy to step up his antics. He jumped up into Claire's lap, causing her to giggle and run her small hands through his fur. That wasn't enough for Sandy, though. He took it a step further, and jumped on the table. At this Mrs. and Mr. McCrery were trying to get him off the table, but Claire, Aidan, and Leo were laughing. Until Sandy backed up into the candle, that is.**

 **In what seemed like slow motion, the candle toppled out of its base, flame still sputtering. It landed onto the crisp, white, tablecloth, and after a few seconds the tablecloth was on fire too. Now everyone was screaming, Leo was in shock, and Claire was crying, trying to get her precious dog off the table. She reached up for him, but in the process of doing so burned her hand. "MOMMY! MOMMY IT HURTS!" She yelled, and her mom raced over to her, trying to get her to calm down, and Mr. McCrery was lifting Sandy off the table. Aidan had raced off to get some water to extinguish the fire, and Leo was still frozen in his chair, his face pale, like he had seen a ghost. Suddenly the memory turned weird. Instead of hearing the McCrery family, the entire scene had been transformed into an old workshop, one that looked nothing like where they had previously been.**

Hazel gasped next to Frank. "He was having a flashback!" She said, and everyone else turned to look at her. She waved her hand back at the screen, like that everyone was focused back on the memory ("the flashback", as Hazel called it).

 **It seemed like there were only two figures in this memory, a woman who was bent over her purse, digging around, and Leo, who looked like he was the same age as he had been in the other memories. (A/N Any quotes in the memory will have been taken from the book The Lost Hero, by Rick Riordan, and therefore I do not own them.)**

" **That's funny. I know I had them. Wait here mijo. I'll only be a minute." She smiled, and turned back into the warehouse, where the doors suddenly slammed shut. Leo screamed and ran towards the door, pulling and knocking on the doors.**

Annabeth frowned. "Is he using Morse Code?" she asked. "That what it sounded like…" she trailed off.

Piper looked over at her friend. "He used Morse Code? What did he say?"

"He just tapped "'You Okay?' and stuff like that, nothing much." Piper knew Annabeth was starting to put pieces of what was happening together, but just turned her attention back to the set.

 **Suddenly a third voice entered the scene. "She can't hear you," it said. The camera moved over to show the new person, who was wearing dark robes, and appeared to be sleep walking. Leo looked confused, like it reminded him of someone he knew.**

" **T** **ía?** **" He asked, obviously confused. From Piper's limited knowledge of Spanish she knew he had said "Aunt," but wondered why, considering it didn't look anything like his Aunt Rosa from the first memory.**

 **The women laughed, and said "I am not your guardian. Merely a family resemblance.**

From what Piper remembered from what Leo had told her about his mom's death, she now knew who the woman was. Annabeth and Jason obviously had too. "Gaea." Piper said, and Percy, Frank and Hazel looked confused.

"What? Frank said. "How is that Gaea…"He trailed off when he saw everyone was looking at him.

" **What-what do you want? Where's my mom?" Leo stuttered, backing up and looking really scared.**

" **Ah…loyal to your mother. How nice. But you see, I have children too… and I understand you will fight them someday. When they try to wake me, you will prevent them. I cannot allow that. "**

 **"I don't know you. I don't want to fight anybody." Leo said, his voice growing a little high pitched with fear and anger.**

 **"A wise choice." The woman said (now recognized as Gaea) and walked closer to Leo. "I cannot destroy you yet, the Fates will not allow it. But they do not protect your mother, and they cannot stop me from breaking your spirit. Remember this night, little hero, when they ask you to oppose me."**

 **"Leave my mother alone!" Leo screamed, pale with fear yet determined.**

 **"How will you stop me?" Gaea asked, and walked through the table, earthen robes swishing around her.**

 **Leo's hands were suddenly on fire, and screamed as they left his hands with a rush, aimed towards Gaea. She vanished, and fire was everywhere, the wood of the workshop groaned and started to collaspe, with Leo's mom still inside. Leo passed out, and the rest of the heroes watched as fire overtook the screen.**

"He, he said the machine shop collasped!" Piper yelled. "He didn't mention the fire! Oh my gods, what if he thought it was his fault!"

"Calm down, Piper!" Jason told her. "Leo's fine. Don't worry about it!" Piper didn't look convinced, but quieted down so the memory watching could continue.

 **Now that the flashback was over, the screen went back to the first scene, with the McCrery's. Aidan and Mr. McCrery put out the fire, and Mrs. McCrery wrapped up Claire's burn. Finally, once everyone had settled down they noticed Leo staring at the where the fire had been, shaking.**

 **Mrs. McCrery realized what was going first and ran to him. "Oh my god! I'm so sorry Leo, are you okay?" Leo nodded, albeit still shaking, and Mrs. McCrery nodded for Aidan to take him to their room, where Leo fell asleep. A little while later, he woke up and looked around. The house was dark and quiet, and Aidan was snoring softly on the other side of the room. Leo got up, and dug out a piece of paper and a pen from Aidan's desk. The camera zoomed in on the note as Leo wrote it, and it said:**

 _ **Dear Mrs. and Mr. McCrery, Aidan, Claire, and Sandy,**_

 _ **I'm really sorry about this, you are a nice family and I'll miss you. But I'm not ready to deal with this right now, I hope you'll understand. You should definitely take in another foster kid, they'll love you guys for sure. Claire, you're amazing, and I'll always remember you. Never stop being adorable, you are perfect. Aidan, you make a great big brother, no matter how much you may or may not pretend that you want one. Sandy, always be your annoying self, and make sure that you take care of Claire, understand? I'll remember you guys always, and thanks for taking care of me.**_

 _ **Sincerely, Leo Valdez**_

 **Piper and the rest of the demigods were crying when Leo finished his letter, and they watched as he left the note on the desk, pulled his backpack from under his bed, and opened the window, crawling out into the darkness, only to stop in the front yard, and turn back to the house. "Goodbye." He said, his words getting lost in the wind, and then turned and ran into the night.**

 **A/N and that's a wrap guys! I'll probably get the next chapter up by Thursday or Friday, no promises though, because of hw and other stuff. But after next week I go on spring break, so hopefully I'll be able to update more.**

 **Peace out! And please please PLEASE review! And ideas are always helpful ;)**


	5. Chapter 5

**A/N Waz up everyone? I was sick today, and since I was bored, I decided to write and post this a day early! So yeah, you're welcome. Thanks for all the new reviews, favs, and follows! And exciting news, this story got over 1,000 views! I certainly wasn't expecting that, so thanks to everyone who took the time out of their day to read it! I really appreciate it! On with the super awesome amazing chapter! (at least in my opinion….)**

Chapter Five

Frank POV

Leo Valdez was a mess, no doubt about it. Frank thought he had gone through some pretty bad times, his mother had been killed during the Afghanistan War, he hadn't met his father for years, and when he did he found out that it was the God of War (what a joke, considering his mom), his grandmother might be dead and his life depended on a stick, for crying out loud. But Frank had always been with his family, whether before or after his mom passed away. Leo had been on his own for such a long time, his only family giving him up for foster care, and even believed he had killed his own mom. Frank knew that most demigod's lives sucked, but with all of Leo's annoying humor Frank would never have believed he had such a bad childhood. Sure, Leo had told him about his mother dying, but everything else? That was all new to him. Frank really hoped they would get to another good memory soon, Leo had to have had some good times, right?

 **This time the screen was dark, but slowly lit up so they could see Leo running down a street, looking behind him frantically. He was slightly older, probably 9 or 10, and he was wearing a black short sleeve shirt with a thin jacket that kept slipping down his shoulders, and was clutching the straps of the same backpack he had been using in the previous memories, so it didn't fly off as he ran. His outfit choice was odd, considering it was pitch black despite the street lamps, meaning it must have been fairly cold. Leo didn't seem fazed, however, like he was completely used to it.**

 **There were also faint sirens coming from behind him, slowly coming closer. The blue/red lights were easy to see in contrast to the black background, and it was obvious to the demigods (well, most of them, Percy had to ask Annabeth what was happening) that Leo was on the run from the police.**

 **Suddenly Leo slowed down, stopped and ducked into a small alleyway, and crouched behind some abandoned boxes until the sound of sirens had faded into the dark, leaving Leo alone once more. He pulled his backpack off his shoulders and reached inside, digging around. He was successful, and came up with what looked like a Hershey's chocolate bar. He started picking it apart, savoring each piece, when a small crash came from behind him. Leo jumped up, almost falling backward, when a small stray white cat came out from the shadows. It must have knocked one of the boxes over. Leo sighed and sat down, still engulfing his chocolate, while scolding the cat. "Seriously, dude? You almost gave me a heart attack. What makes you think you have the right to act like that?"**

 **The cat turned his head to the side, making it seem like he was thinking "Why are you talking to a cat? Are you out of your mind?"**

 **Leo, meanwhile, continued insulting the cat, rambling on about things that didn't even make sense. He seemed totally oblivious to the fact that the cat was giving him a weird look. "I need to name you." Leo stated with finality. "How about Whiskers? Too boring? Okay. What about Cream? No? Why don't you suggest something, then? Why are you making me do all the work?"**

 **It stared at him incredulously. "Lazy, huh? Bad quality, dude, you should fix that. Let's see, maybe Randolph? Too normal? Ok, let's see…" He did this for a really long time, and just when Frank was about to zone out he snapped his fingers. "I've got it! Hershey! Totally ironic, get it? Because Hershey's is a chocolate, which is brown, and you're a white cat!"**

Now Percy was really confused. "Wait, did he seriously just name a cat after his Hershey's bar?"

"Yes, Percy, please try to keep up."

"Sorry Wise Girl." Annabeth rolled her eyes and they all refocused on the video.

 **The cat still looked confused, and finally meowed at Leo in annoyance, which of course only prompted him to become more annoying. "You can't talk to me like that! Who do you think you are, anyway? No answer? Of course not. How rude. I know dust mites with better manners than you!" He suddenly glanced down at a piece of leather encircling his wrist. "Sorry, Hershey, those idiotic police kept me up later than usual, have to go. He picked up his backpack and started out of the alley, when he realized that Hershey was following him. "You want to come? Seriously?" The cat gave a pitiful meow, and looked at Leo expectantly. "Fine, but you have to take care of yourself, understand?" It meowed again. "Then what are we waiting for! Let's go!" And he took off again, cautiously making his way down the abandoned street, until he stopped at a random corner. He lifted a sewer cover up, and tossed his backpack down. Raising an eyebrow at Hershey he said, "You coming?"**

 **Apparently taking that as a challenge, Hershey lifted his tail and jumped down into the sewer. "Show-off." Leo mumbled, climbing down a maintenance ladder and landing in the dirty sewer. "Well this is it, I guess," Leo told Hershey. "That's my side, and that's yours, understand?" Hershey promptly plopped himself down onto Leo's side, and gave Leo a smirk (at least that's what it looked like). Leo stuck his tongue out, walked to the other side and grabbed a small throw blanket out of his backpack, and then pulled out a charred photo out of the front pocket. He then lay on the hard ground, using his backpack as a pillow. Apparently the cat was offended at being left out, and left his designated spot to curl up next to Leo, which caused all the girls in the room to say aww.**

 **Leo gave him a glance, before staring at the picture he was holding in his hand. After a while Leo broke the silence. "My mom would've loved you, yah know. She loved animals. Everyone thought she was crazy." He showed the picture to the cat laying next him, and pointed to one figure. "That was her. She's gone now. I miss her." Hershey seemed to realize that Leo was getting sad, and purred and curled up tighter next to him. Leo acknowledged the cat's presence by stroking his back, but his main focus was back on his photo. "Te amo,** **mamá** **. I won't forget you." With that Leo slowly closed his eyes, still stroking the cat. One arm fell to the side, dropping his picture. Hershey meowed again, obviously satisfied, and then fell asleep too.**

Frank sighed, and Hazel gave him a reassuring smile. Frank knew that while he still hated Hera, this was actually a pretty good idea. They had learned so much about Leo that he had kept hidden, maybe because he didn't want to be a burden on his friends. Judging by the look on Jason's face, he was thinking the same thing. Piper looked like she didn't know whether to be sad that her best friend was sleeping in a sewer, even though Leo had told her that he slept in sewers sometimes, all those months ago, or happy that he had gained a new (and adorable) friend. Percy still was mumbling about why Leo had named his cat after his Hershey bar, and Annabeth was half scolding Percy and half smiling at the sight of Leo and Hershey together. Frank was no Apollo, but when everything was over he knew that everything would work out in the end.

 **A/N And there's another chapter finished! I really don't know where the cat came from, I was trying to think of a good idea I hadn't heard before, and well, this is what you got. Hope you liked it! ANY comments and reviews are nice, I really want to know if you guys like this story or hate it. I'm going to visit my grandparents next week during spring break, so I'll either update more than usual or less than usual, depends on what's happening. I will try to get something for Saturday or Sunday though.**

 **And I also wanted to reply to my one guest reviewer:**

 **Thanks! I'm glad you liked it! Thanks for the suggestion, but I don't know if I'll make a Percy Jackson one, I don't really feel like I understand Percy the way I get Leo, but I'll keep it in mind for the future. Thanks for reviewing!**


	6. Chapter 6

**A/N Hello peoples! This took a little longer to finish than I originally thought, so that's why it's a little late. As always, thanks to anyone who reviewed, faved, or followed, you guys are awesome! I'm at chapter six already, which is kind of scary considering I never thought I would get past chapter 2, lol, but I love you people! Anyway, here's chapter six!**

 **Disclaimer (I forgot this last time, oops): I am never going to be Rick Riordan, which means I'll never own these books. So no characters you recognize belong to me.**

Chapter Six

Annabeth POV

For a genius who supposedly knew everything, Annabeth Chase was feeling pretty dumb. She had always considered herself pretty good with reading other people, calculating their intentions, yet she had completely misread Leo Valdez. She knew he was a joker, always lightening up the mood, yet when he was absorbed in a project there was no stopping him. What she hadn't realized was that he had gone through so much, and never even told anyone. From Piper and Jason's reactions to some of the worse memories they had seen so far, Leo hadn't even told them some of the worse parts of his life, or at least made it seem a lot less important than it actually was, and they were his best friends. Even when they were working on the Argo II Leo never opened up to Annabeth. Sure, they had a few conversations with each other, that was guaranteed considering they were working with each other, but Annabeth was always worrying about Percy and never really had a heart to heart conversation with Leo. Although, she knew that after everything had happened, once Leo was awake again everyone would treat him with a little more respect. So, Annabeth was forced to admit (although never to anyone else), maybe Hera knew what she was doing (for once) after all. 

**The screen lit up once more. This time it was in the same workshop from the foster home memory, except obviously this was a different time setting. Esperanza Valdez was writing on some blueprints that were scattered all over the table, glancing between them, erasing and writing some more. Seemingly satisfied, she picked up a screwdriver that was next to the blueprints and started working on a half finished project that was stationed at the table. On the other side of the workshop, a smaller version of Leo was fiddling with some wires and scrap metal, deep in concentration on his project. He was definitely a lot younger than most of the other memories, closer to 5 or 6. After a while, Leo** **glanced up from his project and saw his mom working intensely, so in order to give her a break he put down his invention and scrambled over to her. "Hola** **mamá, what** **are you working on?" His voice had a heavy Mexican accent that the Leo Annabeth knew didn't have, it must have faded after he had been shipped all over the place in foster homes, and of course running away.**

 **His mother looked up at him and smiled, not a forced smile but a genuine one. Her jet black hair was pulled into a sloppy ponytail that was falling out, like she had been too busy to redo it. She was wearing grease stained overalls, (looking a lot like Leo after he had been in the engine room all day), and overall was really pretty, although she looked exhausted, probably had been working the entire day. "Hola mijo, I'm working on my design."**

 **"It looks great!** **¿Ha casi terminado?" Subtitles popped up on the screen indicating that Leo had said "** _ **Are you almost finished?**_ **".**

 **"No, not yet, mi mijo, although it will probably be done soon."**

 **Leo looked sad for a second, then brightened up again. "Did I tell you the joke about the cookie that went to the hospital?"**

 **Esperanza laughed. "I don't think so, what is it?"**

 **"Why did the cookie go to the hospital?" He was bouncing up and down, looking very excited.**

 **"Why?" Esperanza asked, obviously already knowing the answer but wishing to let Leo reveal the answer instead.**

 **"Because he felt crummy!" Leo practically shouted. "Did you get it mamá?" Little Leo was really adorable, Annabeth told herself. From the looks of Piper and Hazel, she knew that they thought the same thing.**

 **Esperanza laughed at her son's antics, saying "That's a good one mijo."**

 **Leo beamed with pride and asked "Puedo ayudarle?" (** _ **"Can I help you?")**_

 **"Sure mijo. Can you get me that hammer?" She pointed across the room, where a hammer was lying on another table.**

 **"S** **í, Mam** **á!" He yelled, running over to get the hammer. Esperanza just shook her head and went back to her blueprints. "I got it!" He cried, sliding across the floor and stumbling to a stop in front of her, where he presented it with a flourish.**

 **"Gracias, mijo." Esperanza said, taking the hammer and rubbing his head. She then tapped on the wood, to which Leo grinned and tapped back.**

Noticing that the rest of the seven looked really confused, Annabeth said "They were using Morse Code again. Leo's mom must have taught him." 

Her face clearing in realization, Piper asked "What did they say?" 

"Esperanza said I love you, and then Leo tapped I love you too back." 

Piper smiled. "Aww, that's so sweet." 

"Um, can we get back to the T.V.?" Jason asked, to which Piper sent him a glare. 

"Uh yeah, sure." said Annabeth, and they all turned back to the memories. 

**Leo started to yawn, and Esperanza glanced down at her watch. "It's almost 10:00, mijo, you should go to sleep. We've been here longer than usual."**

 **He shook his head wildly, sending his black curls flying everywhere. "I don't want to! I want to help you some more. Please mamá?" He said, using his big brown eyes to give her a puppy dog look.**

Annabeth laughed and nudged Percy. "His puppy dog eyes are almost as effected as your baby seal look!" 

Percy looked ofended. "My seal eyes are much cuter than whatever that is." 

"Is someone jealous?" Annabeth asked in mock confusion. Percy blushed and quickly denied it, although Annabeth laughed again at his pathetic denial. 

Suddenly realizing that everyone was staring at them, they blushed and quickly went back to watching the screen. 

**She laughed. "I can never win an argument with you when you do that! Fine, you can stay up a** **little** **bit longer."**

 **"Yay!" Leo squealed, running up and hugging his mom. Piper, Annabeth, and Hazel all awed, while the boys rolled their eyes at their girlfriends' girlishness.**

 **"But I have to finish this, mijo, so just stay busy, okay?"**

 **"Okay!" He agreed, running back over to the project he had abondened earlier and picking up his** **screwdriver again. He then kept his mom occupied with a series of lame jokes, which made Frank groan and ask "Was he always this annoying?" which made everyone else laugh at Frank's expression.**

 **Leo started yawning more frequently, and finally drifted off at his workstation. Esperanza glanced back from where she was working on her design, and laughed at her son's appearance. She put down her tools and picked Leo up, walked across the room and put him down on a mattress that had obviously been put there for days when Esperanza worked late. She covered him with a small blanket that was hanging over a chair and told him, "** **Buenas noches, te amo mijo." (** _ **Goodnight, I love you son.**_ **)**

 **She went back over to where she was working and continued on her design, and then the screen faded to black.**

Piper started squealing. "Oh my gosh, Leo was so cute! That was pure adorableness. And his puppy dog look, that was the best!" Piper continued "Aphroditing out", as the others had started to call it, while Jason glared at the sleeping Leo on the floor for being so cute when he was younger. 

Frank and Hazel were laughing at Jason and Piper, with Piper still being oblivious to what was happening around her. 

"Esperanza was a lot like Sally," said Percy, leaning closer to Annabeth. "She really cared for him." 

"Yeah," said Annabeth sadly. "It must have hurt him a lot when she died." They both looked over at the sleeping Leo, who despite Jason glaring at him, looked peaceful and at rest, not tired or stressed or anything. They watched him some more, the arguing of the others becoming background noise, and just enjoying each other's presence. And Annabeth knew no matter what happened, they would always be there for each other. 

**A/N another chapter finished, yay! Sorry if it gets a little repetitive, I try my best to make it as long as I can, which results in some repetitiveness, but I hope it was good anyway! Please leave all your thoughts in the review section, I love reading them! I've decided I probably won't update over the break, because I'm going to be pretty busy, so I'll try to update sometime next weekend. Peace Out!**


	7. Chapter 7

**A/N Ok, hey guys! First of all, I know I'm a liar, and so let's all pretend when I said I would get the next chapter up in one week, I really meant more than two weeks. Duh. So, I'm really sorry for the wait, but I had some massive writer's block with this one, combined with vacations, allergies, and school, and that's why it took so long. (Combined with massive laziness/procrastination.)**

 **ALSO VERY IMPORTANT FOR THIS CHAPTER AND IF YOU DON'T READ THIS YOU WON'T GET ANYTHING AT ALL:** **So, like I said I had some massive writer's block for this chapter, so when I wrote it I just wrote, and the end result is that it's nothing like the other chapters. (You'll understand once you've read it). And I couldn't think of how to re-write it, so let's all pretend that this is just one of Leo's memories, and the next chapter will be the other's reactions to this one. Ok? Ok.**

 ***Big thanks to mewsugarpudd, for her very helpful advice on writing angst, and also to CrazyBlueOwl, who helped a lot with this chapter. I didn't use any of the ideas we discussed (I just went with it** **) but hope you like it anyway! Also to my friend Sylvia (who's getting very popular with involvement of this story) who gave me the advice that instead of making you guys wait some more I should just post what I had.**

 **WHOO! That was a really long author's note, but I hope you enjoy the story!**

 **Disclaimer: I don't own anything associated with Percy Jackson.**

 **WARNING: THIS MEMORY INVOLVES ABUSE, SO IF YOU THINK IT WILL TRIGGER ANYTHING PLEASE DON'T READ.**

Leo didn't know which was worse. The fact that he was feeling claustrophobic, being stuck in the small closet for three hours, the fact he was bleeding uncontrollably and was starting to see stars, or the fact that he was stuck with her. Again.

It was his third escape attempt since he had been placed in his first foster home over 3 years ago. It felt so long…. God he missed them. But that was then, and this was now. Teresa was abusing him, and he couldn't take it anymore.

He knew his teacher had saw his scars on his arm, from where her long nails had gripped him, those long nails painted with dark red polish, almost the shade of blood. His blood.

Leo didn't know what specifically angered Teresa, it could be anything. Once it was because his room wasn't clean enough. Then because it was too clean. Then because she was bored, and then because her favorite T.V. show had been canceled. And he could never escape from her. He would be in his room, reading something he had snuck past her from the library, when he heard the door open. It would creak open slowly, so quietly it almost went unnoticed. In fact, it did go unnoticed sometimes, and he wouldn't even be aware of her presence until the shadow fell across his bed. He was too afraid to look up, hoping it was just a figment of his wild imagination. It wasn't, of course, and she would punish him for refusing to acknowledge her presence.

When he first got sent to the foster home, Teresa had behaved normally, not really being any different from any other parent he had. She was quieter, a little creepier, sure, but there was no significant difference. Then, almost a month since he had arrived, she had appeared in his doorway one night, looming in the crowded space. She was wavering, unsteady on her feet, and was clutching something. A beer bottle.

Leo was too afraid to move, but he didn't have to. She dropped the bottle, where it fell to the floor with a crash, glass shards spinning across the wood. She moved closer to him, where he was huddled on the bed, and began talking in a raspy voice.

"Did you think you would escape? You deserve to be punished!" Leo had no idea what she was talking about, but it sure freaked him out. She grabbed one of his thin, lean, arms; nails digging into his skin, and dragged him out of the room, broken glass inserting themselves into his bare feet as they went. He was dragged down the stairs of the small two story house, and thrown down on the hardwood of the living room, with its fading green paint and half broken T.V. set. He could've fixed it, of course, but she didn't like that.

Teresa was towering over him, kicking his side, over and over, and shouted curses at him, at her family, everything she could think of. Finally, she tired of her new game, and with one last kick, pulled herself back up the stairs and into her bed. Leo had slept on the living room floor that light, too exhausted to even move, crying until his curls were plastered to his head.

That was only the beginning, of course, and it had slowly gotten worse as time went on. The thing that had set her off this time was the fact that one teacher had noticed he looked extremely tired, and had pulled aside after school to ask if everything was okay. He lied his way out of it, and almost escaped when the teacher grabbed his arm to reassure him, accidentally pulling the thin sleeve up and revealing the numerous scars that had collected there. Leo had pulled his arm back and run off, terrified, getting on the school bus and shivering in the back.

The teacher had obviously seen the scars, Leo could tell by the horrified expression on his face. Leo knew he would probably contact Teresa to figure out the meaning behind them, and he didn't want to hang around to face his foster mom's wrath, so as soon as he got home he packed up his backpack then waited until it started to get dark, and dropped out the window, climbing down a tree conveniently located there.

Luck wasn't on his side, however, and he managed to run straight into an ill-tempered Teresa as she was walking up the driveway from work. "What do you think you're doing, you demon child?" She spat at him. He didn't answer, cowering away from her, and she answered her own question. "Were you running away from me? What made you think you had the authority to do that? Answer me!" She slapped him, blood appearing where her nails had flashed across his face, the blood was mixing in with his tears, which had started to flow, as much as he tried to stop them. He still didn't answer, frozen in fear, and she finally decided to take things into her own hands. "You don't want to answer? I guess I have no choice but to settle this inside." She continued up the path, dragging a still silent Leo behind her, sobbing noiselessly into the wind, as he was brought back into the place he had just run from. She dragged him into his room, locking the window and door, and leaving again.

An hour later she returned again, holding something behind her back. She looked calmer now, but it was a fake calm, like she had plastered it onto her face before entering the room. "Leo, darling," she purred, voice thick with charm and sarcasm. "Would you like to explain the voicemail I just received on the phone, he said he was your English teacher? Apparently, he mentioned something about, what was it? Oh yesssss, worrying scars on your arm. Why would he know about those, Leo sweetheart?" Leo was slowly retreating into a corner, as she approached him. "Is something wrong?" She questioned, lips turning into a false concerned expression.

Leo finally mustered the courage to speak, yelling, "Leave me alone!" Her face turned dark, resembling a caged tiger. "I think not, Leo. I think I may have to teach you a lesson. You need to learn how to keep secrets, and I know how!" She was raving like a lunatic, and there was a starved craze in her eyes.

One arm snaked out, grabbing Leo from his corner and tossing him dangerously onto the floor, where he landed with a dull thud. Taking advantage of his helpless form, she raised the unidentified object that she had been holding. Leo saw with horror that it was a belt, a belt that was falling with increasing speed towards his unprotected back. It landed with a sharp crack, causing him to cry out with pain, barely recovering before it fell again. And again. And again. The agony lasted hours, and when she was finished he was lying on the ground shivering and crying, trying to calm himself but failing miserably. She just stood and laughed, cackling madly for what felt like hours, before pulling him to his feet so their eyes were level. "Don't ever forget this." She whispered, then pulled open the door to the small closet and threw him in, where his head banged against the wall, and he was left, bleeding with a major headache. Whenever he touched his skull his fingers came away damp, and he knew it was damaged somehow.

After a long time, the pain overtook him and he fell into a dark sleep, where everything hurt and he couldn't wake up. He did wake up, twice, but soon fell back into the prison of aches and torment. His dreaming self cried for his dead mom, but of course she couldn't help him. The third time he woke up it was different. The door to the closet was being opened, and he couldn't help but make himself as small as possible to hide from the incoming person.

The light that was shining down on him, and he blinked his eyes several times, trying to adjust, before leaving them closed. He had seen that it was a man holding the light, however, so he knew it wasn't Teresa, at least.

"Oh my god," Leo heard the man say, "He's almost dead. What happened to him? Get him into the ambulance right away."

Then the pain caught up to him once more, and he fell back into the black, knowing when he woke up he would be out of Teresa's care forever.

 **A/N So yeah, as you can tell it's very different. I hope it wasn't cheesy, lame or retarded though! As I said, the next chapter will be the reactions to this one. As always, thanks for any reviews, favorites, or follows! Hope you enjoyed, and please review! (also, would you prefer for me to just leave A/N at the top, bottom, or both? I want to know what you guys want.) Hopefully I'll see you before 2 weeks!**


	8. Chapter 8

**A/N Hey guys! Sorry again for the wait, I'm developing a habit** **. I have plenty of excuses, although since they'll probably just bore you I'll skip those. Thanks to all of you who favorited, followed, and reviewed, and to all of my friends who pressured me to update (IT WAS A BUSH). Also, thanks for the feedback on the authors notes, I'll stick to doing both at the top and bottom. As I said in the last chapter, these are the reactions to Chapter 7, so you might want to re-read that first. Ok, on with the chapter!**

 **Piper POV**

Seeing Leo being abused on the screen destroyed Piper more than she had ever thought even possible. Styx, she had fought more monsters than she could count, went through bullying by girls who couldn't handle that she was prettier (sorry, but it's true) than them, and even seen her own father kidnapped by an evil giant. But not knowing that her best friend had ever been abused was more than she could handle. She had told Leo almost all of her secrets (he had a mad history of blackmail), but hadn't realized that Leo never really told anyone about himself. She had known Leo for almost half a year before "meeting" Jason, and then even when "Jason" was with them, she had known Leo for another half year before the whole Grand Canyon incident. But the first time Leo told them about his mom was during the quest, and he had lied about how that occurred too. The only think she was really positive about was that he had run away six times, and he had never really talked about that either. Of course, now she could see why, but she wished he had told her himself, instead of the ever annoying Hera. She could feel tears falling down her face, but she barely registered it as the screen with the picture of Leo twisted in pain faded into black. In her subconscious she also noticed Percy threatening random gods again (they wouldn't be too happy about that) while slashing Riptide through the air, why she didn't know. A distressed Annabeth was trying, and failing to calm him down, while Jason, Frank, and Hazel were all sitting frozen in shock. As all of this registered in her brain, she also swore to herself that she would never let anything hurt Leo this much again.

 **Percy POV**

Percy hadn't known Leo for long, and they hadn't exactly gotten to the best start (with him knocking Leo out and all that). But while Leo was useless with a weapon, unless it happened to be a hammer, they had a lot more in common then Percy had ever thought possible. They had the same smart-alecky attitude, and could turn almost anything into a joke. But Percy also had a seriousness about him that had always made him a threat to his enemies, one Leo had never really seemed to have. But now that Percy was seeing his memories and trials first hand he knew that Leo would always have more pain than a guy his age should ever had, and this was coming from a guy who had gone through almost anything possible. It was like the gods thought he was their own personable toy for amusement, throwing quests and monsters at him no stop. But despite all their differences, Percy had grown to Leo, and knew that his unrelenting humor probably stopped a lot of tension filled meetings, even though it could get annoying at times. Still, Leo was one of his friends, and seeing him abused made his fatal flaw kick in. Without even really registering what was happening around him, he immediately started yelling and screaming, not even really understanding what he was saying. In fact, he was almost positive he had even cursed the couch at one point, making Jason give him a strange look. He even remembered drawing Riptide and swinging it at random objects, meaning they would probably need a new lamp at some point. He felt Annabeth's arms on his shoulders, trying to get him to put Riptide away, and while he heard her, it seemed like his arms were moving on their own, threatening Teresa if she even came close to any one of them ever again (which was extremely unlikely, but still). There was nothing that would stop him if his friend ever got hurt again.

 **Jason POV**

Jason didn't have many real memories of Leo, meeting him for the first time on a bus in the middle of nowhere. But since then he had gone through almost everything with the fire user, and had developed a long lasting friendship with him. Sure, his jokes were awful, and his terrible habit of obsessing over all girls he ever met (including evil ice princesses) was, well, terrible, but he had a determination to getting things done that Jason had never really seen from anyone else. He had spent countless hours on the Argo 2, doing more than everyone else combined. So seeing him broken and helpless at the mercy of that awful woman shook up more rage inside him that he ever thought he had. He was staring at the screen in shock, barely noticing what was happening around him (although he had heard Percy cursing the couch, which was kind of random, but he guessed everyone had their own way of dealing with grief, strange as it might be). He had always known that Leo hated talking about his past, but he had always thought it was because he was just one of those people who never talked about any personal stuff. Well, now he knew why. Part of him wanted to join Percy in cursing everything in sight (although not the couch), but the more rational, Roman, part of him kept him frozen in shock, alternating glances between the perfectly normal Leo still lying on the ground, and the now pitch black television screen. While he never had bothered really going past the boundaries Leo had in his mind that refused to let him tell anyone about what he had ever been through, he knew that Leo was one of the best people on the earth, and would do anything for his friends (although maybe not as much as Percy), and deep inside he made a promise to himself that he would never let Leo go through anything that bad alone again.

 **Frank POV**

Frank knew the side of Leo that he flaunted to the world, but he had never tried going any deeper. He had never really liked Leo that much, Leo's "jokes" annoyed Frank to no end, and Frank could never really get rid of the feeling that he was after his girl, which while Frank knew it didn't really make any sense, he could tell Leo had been over Hazel since they had experienced the flashback together, discovering their connection, but Leo was always talking to Hazel at dinner and such, and his Mars side of him couldn't help wanting to pulverize Leo, even though nothing was happening between them. So seeing that he had gone through so much torment when he younger brought an avalanche of sympathy out of nowhere. He, like Jason and girlfriend, had gone into a seemingly state of shock, although Frank still could feel everything happening around him. He noticed that he had always tried to find reasons to hate Leo, and never really tried to connect with him, no matter what happened. Leo had saved all of them countless times, with all of his fancy and complicated machinery, and knew that Leo could be relentless when getting things done, even if it meant conjuring up an extravagant plan that was sure to fail, yet most of the time actually succeeded. And Frank knew that deep down he had a certain level of respect for him, trying to keep the mood light after going through so much in his childhood must have been difficult, Frank knew he certainly didn't care at all about anything after his mom died, which Leo had gone through plus so much more. At having such a dangerous power couldn't be very easy either, even though it had come in handy multiple times. And Frank knew that no matter what Leo did, he would always have a small fondness for his idiocy.

 **Annabeth POV**

Annabeth considered herself to be good at reading people, but she knew she had been completely wrong with Leo Valdez. While she had seen hints of a possible dark past in his eyes before, late at night while they were working on the Argo, they hadn't really had deep conversations which each other, except for a few funny stories Leo had mentioned from his childhood, but nothing really intense. Sure, they had some things in common, they had both run away at some point in their lives, but Annabeth had been found almost immediately by Thalia and Luke, while Leo had been by himself for the majority of the time. And Annabeth had always had the option to go back to her family, something Leo never had. She also knew that they both knew Morse Code, she had often heard him tapping messages when working, and from the way he seemed oblivious to the habit she knew it was probably a trait he had had for a long time, probably even from his mom. The message usually was along the lines of "I love you", giving her the impression that he had a deep connection with his mom, something she had verified in the previous memory. Now she was seeing a side of him she had never really focused on before, resulting in a flood of emotions, mostly crying (her eyes were probably red and puffy at this point) and also keeping her boyfriend from destroying the room, (although the lamp wasn't very lucky), and yelling at him to calm down. A completely detached part of her brain was going through previous memories she had of Leo, and remembered once while working on the Argo II she had seen some faint scars on his back, although her first assumption was a monster attack or mechanical mishap, although she was so busy worrying about Percy gone missing and finding him again resulted in her not completely focusing on what had happened to Leo, and never asked him about it. One thing Annabeth knew for sure though was that now she knew the truth about the majority of his past, she was never going to let it escape her again.

 **Hazel POV**

Hazel wasn't very sure about how the modern world worked, being recently reborn, and suddenly everything was confusing (like, where did the electronic phase come from? You die once and suddenly everything is different), but back when she was a girl racism and discrimination was normal, resulting in being frequently bullied and teased, and having a "witch mom" never exactly helped her personality level. So, she had a pretty messed up life, especially for a kid who grew up in the 40s. But despite all of her hardships for the majority of it she had Sammy to help her through everything, and couldn't help but notice how similar the two of them were. They were practically identical in looks, and they had the same annoying yet endearing sense of humor, resulting in whenever she saw Leo she immediately went back to the good old days she had had with Sammy. But in the modern world she knew that Leo had a very tough childhood (making them almost identical in that sense) and from her experience she knew it couldn't have been easy on him. She was heartbroken, seeing her friend on the screen, and couldn't move her eyes from the screen, even though it was still blank. Finally she managed to tear her eyes from the screen and looked down at Leo, who was starting to roll over on the mattress, like his excessive ADHD was kicking in and he couldn't stay still, even though he was still asleep. Besides from mentally comparing Leo and Sammy, Hazel noticed she had never really thought about Leo that much, despite Leo obviously liking her when they first met, although she had noticed that he hadn't really thrown himself at her for quite a while, he was usually working on repairing the Argo from the daily monster attacks that hit them all. Yet she knew that Leo was more focused on his work, and cared about keeping his friends' thoughts away from the danger that awaited them as they drew closer to Greece. And she knew that she had developed a respect for Leo Valdez and would care for him (as a friend!) no matter what.

 **A/N So yeah, there's the latest chapter, I'll try to get the next one up within the next few days, because this isn't what I'd really call a real chapter. In response to my guest reviews:**

 **Guest: Here you go! I'm glad you like it!**

 **Readrex: errrrr, thanks for that in-site on Oedipus Rex. I actually recently read it in English class, talk about coincidences, right? Although it doesn't really have to do with my story... lol**

 **Anyway I hope you guys enjoyed this! Be sure to leave any thoughts in the reviews ;) !**


	9. Chapter 9

_**A/N Hello everybody! Long time no write! First of all, I am deeply sorry for taking so long to update, first my computer was broken and I had to get it fixed, which took a while, and then it was a simple matter of procrastination. Although to be honest, the majority of this chapter was finished like two weeks ago, but I couldn't think of a good ending and wanted to make it slightly longer. But I'm back now! So, many thanks to all of you people, thanks for all the positive reviews, favorites, and follows! It means so much to me**_ _ **!**_

 _ **So, I would like to dedicate this chapter to sickly-wicked, who asked me if I could do a chapter like this a really long time ago, but I never got around to it. Here you go!**_

 _ **And big thanks to my friends Sahana and Lillian, for yelling at me to update every chance they got. (Ok that's a slight exaggeration, but still.)**_

 _ **Disclaimer: I don't own any Percy Jackson characters, nor anything you see that you recognize from any of the books written by Rick Riordian.**_

 **Piper POV**

" **Leo, mijo, be careful and do everything that your T** **í** **a tells you, I don't want you to get into any trouble while I'm gone, okay?" Piper could see Esperanza running around the house, yelling over her shoulder. Her pretty black hair was in a ponytail holder, although it was frizzy and messed up. Leo was watching from the side, looking both excited and sad to see his mother leaving. He looked like he was around four years old in this memory.**

" **No se preocupe (don't worry), mamá, I'll be good. You'll be back soon, right?" Leo responded, flashing his adorable puppy dog eyes at her.**

 **Esperanza laughed and ruffled his hair. "Sí, mijo. It's an overnight trip, I'll be back first thing tomorrow. Everything will be fine, okay."**

An older woman suddenly entered the room, who looked strangely familiar. "Wait a minute," asked Annabeth. "Is that Hera?"

Piper and Jason exchanged a look. "Yeah," Jason finally said, "She was Leo's old babysitter."

"Wait, what?" Percy interjected. "How is that even possible?"

"I don't know Percy, just watch the video." Piper cut in. "Okay, okay." Percy muttered, raising his hands in surrender.

" **Oh thank god you made it, Callida, I was starting to get worried." Esperanza said, searching desperately around a table covered with metal and screws. "Aha, here it is!" She said triumphantly, holding up a grease covered passport."**

"Why would she leave her passport on the table?" asked Annabeth curiously, then immediately backtracked with "Never mind, it's not important." after seeing all the murderous looks shot in her direction, except for Percy, who was staring intently into space, probably hungry.

" **Lo siento, Tía, but I really have to leave." Esperanza said, looking down at her watch. "I wrote everything you need to know down over there," she motioned over to a piece of paper, "and I will be back first thing tomorrow. Adios mijo!" she said, kissing Leo's forehead, then raced towards the door. "Be good!"**

 **Leo stared after his mother longingly, then turned back to Hera, who was busy settling herself down in an old rocking chair in the corner.**

" **Hola, tía." Leo said, walking over to her. "How are you?"**

" **I'm fine, little hero. Why don't you fix me something to eat, prove your worth?"**

Piper rolled her eyes. Hera really was obsessed with her charade, Leo had told her plenty of stories of what his tía had done when she babysitted him, each one more ridiculous than the last. Poor Leo, she thought, having to deal with this idiot goddess before he even knew the truth about his heritage.

" **Sure tía, what would you like?" Leo replied, with a bemused expression on his face, like he was tired of this babysitting thing already. Although he was so cute it didn't really matter.**

" **Hmm, let's see. I have an urge for something hot, how about some jalapeño peppers? You can chop some up for me, you are my hero, eh?"**

"Is she out of her mind?" Yelled Annabeth out of nowhere. "Why is she forcing the poor kid to make her something to eat, he's barely four!" Piper knew Annabeth hated Hera, but even she had to agree with Annabeth on this one. Although compared to what Leo had told her, this was certainly better than making him sleep in a burning fireplace, fire powers or not.

"Calm down, Annabeth, he obviously turns out fine." Percy said, gesturing over to the sleeping hispanic.

"Still." Annabeth huffed, but she stopped complaining about Hera being an idiot.

" **Okay, tía, whatever you want." Leo said, rolling his eyes.**

"He was pretty sarcastic for a four year old, wouldn't you say?" asked Frank, cowering in his seat as everyone glared for the interruption. "Never mind." He mumbled to himself, not that anyone else was listening.

 **Piper watched as the onscreen Leo moved into the kitchen, picking up one of the knives with caution (obviously his mom had taught him some safety measures) and starting to cut up one of the spicy peppers on a cutting board, while his "tía" moved into the kitchen, maneuvering herself into one of the chairs facing a table in the back corner, which was obviously the Valdez' dining room.**

 **All of a sudden Leo's hand went up to his eye as he let out a howl of pain. In a second the rest of Leo's friends were leaning out of their seats, trying to see what had happened.**

" **Oh, Dios mío, se quema!" (Oh my god, it burns) He howled, dropping the knife and flailed around the counter, trying to find something to ease his apparent pain, even though his eyes were squeezed tightly shut, and his hand was still pressed hard against his eye. "It's in my eye, dios mío!"**

 **Hera was still leaning back in her chair, watching with apparent amusement at the half blind Latino.**

 **Leo was still spouting curses, enough to make Piper wonder what kind of people Leo hung out with in his free time, he was only four for crying out loud! Apparently his babysitter was getting tired of it, because Hera finally got up from the chair she was so comfortable in, and with a half crazy grin, the kind that most people would immediately think "she's off her rocker", she stood up to her full height. And boy, she was tall. She looked like a Latina goddess, meaning she wasn't very good at staying undercover.**

 **Leo finally stopped screaming long enough to look up at his Tía Callida, and immediately calmed down.**

 **Hera took a step towards Leo, and said in a maniacish voice, "You must endure it, little hero. You know, the Aztecs of your mother's homeland used to punish bad children by holding them over a fire filled with chili peppers. They raised many heroes that way. Pain will help you later in life, yes little hero, you will find out when the comes."**

Oh my god, who ever thought it was a good idea to let Hera babysit four year old demigods? Thought Piper to herself. Poor Leo, having to deal with this for the first few years of his life. And according to what Leo told her, this probably wasn't even the craziest thing. Just wow.

Suddenly, the door to the apartment burst open again, and standing in the doorway was a very frazzled Latina woman.

" **Leo?" she called out. "Mijo? I just had this feeling that I had to get home, so I quickly turned around, and mijo?" Esperanza gasped, as Leo turned to the sound of his mother's voice, and Esperanza could see exactly what happened.**

" **Dios mío, Leo! What happened!" she exclaimed, running over to examine the extent of her son's injury. Leo started at the beginning of the story of his adventure while Esperanza found an ice pack for Leo's eye.**

 **Suddenly she whirled around, almost doing a full 360. "Leo, where's your Tía Callida?" Esperanza asked, with the barest trace of fear in her voice, which was also trembling slightly.**

 **Leo shrugged, and started to turn back to the kitchen table. "She was right there a sec…" he abruptly cut himself off. The table was empty, and there were no signs of anyone being there at all.**

 **Esperanza's eyes opened widely, and Piper had to wonder if she had known all along about the true identity of Leo's babysitter. "Nevermind mijo, I'm sure she just left to give us some privacy. Now come here, I guess I have the rest of the afternoon with you, sí?**

" **Sí mamá!" Leo yelled, as he started bombarding his mother with questions on what they could do for the rest of the afternoon.**

The rest of the demigods watched as Esperanza laughed and played along to her son's antics, and yet all of them couldn't help but notice the tinge of fear and weariness in her big brown eyes.

 _ **A/N Anddddddddd there you have it! Sorry if it's not as good as some of my other chapters, this one is pretty terrible, I know. I don't know how frequent my updates will be from here on out, but I will finish this story at some point of life, so don't worry!**_

 _ **Peace out!**_


	10. Chapter 10

**A.N. Hello everyone! Please read the authors note below if you desperately want to know what happened that caused me to not update for basically eight months (because it's almost January, woohoo!). If you would like to skip all of that than that's completely up to you, it's not like I'm going to come to your house and force you to read it. I would just like to note that I'm extremely sorry that this chapter has been so long in the making, and hope you guys like it. Also, I would strongly recommend re-reading some of it, probably at least the last chapter, to get the feel of the story again. Anyway, let's get to it!**

 **Disclaimer: I do not, will not, and never did own the book series Percy Jackson or Heroes of Olympus at anytime in my life. All rights go to Rick Riordan.**

Hazel P.O.V.

Hazel hadn't had any experiences with Hera (or Juno, since she was Roman), but even she knew that she was a crazy psychopath (at least in God/Goddess standards). No other God or Goddess that she could think of would go so far as to pose as a babysitter just to prepare a demigod for the life ahead of him, proving Leo must be special, in his own way. Maybe Hera recognized that Leo would have to fend for himself for most of his life, and therefore she wanted to give him some prior training experience beforehand, even if her methods were crazy. After all, every other member of the Seven had either had a fairly simple life or a complicated life that had prepared them for the time ahead of them. Piper had lived a pretty good life with her dad, Jason had gotten put in Camp Jupiter early, Frank lived a pretty good life with his mom/grandmother, Hazel herself had gotten somewhat used to the craziness of Gaea controlling her mother, which got her ready for times to come (not to mention dying), Annabeth had found Thalia and Luke than made her way to Camp Half Blood, and Percy had lived a complicated yet semi happy life with his mom until going to Camp Half Blood. For Leo, his only real experiences with the demi-god world came when his mom died, and his adventures with Hera. Until he started going to Camp Half Blood he must not have had any demigod experiences at all, considering running away six times and living in foster homes must have kept him pretty busy. In fact, now that she thought about it, Hera's so called "training" was the only reason he was really connected to the godly universe at all, apart from his father. Leo must be a more important piece to the puzzle of defeating Gaea than any of them gave him credit for, if Hera had gone way out of her way to make sure he was prepared for journeys to come. It certainly didn't give an entirely positive outlook to the whole "storm and fire" thing, that was for sure. She would've further reflected on this, but the T.V. screen changed again, snapping her out of her thoughts.

 **The memory started in a dark alley, where a nine to ten year old version of Leo was currently huddling, engulfing himself in the shadows.**

Piper and Annabeth exchanged concerned looks with each other. Why did it seem like Leo was always in these traumatic situations?

 **Leo's small pathetic form was shivering in the night, his arms fully wrapping around his legs. He looked even scrawnier than he usually was, even compared to the Leo seen in other memories. It was obvious that he had probably been on the run from his latest foster home for a while, probably living off anything he could find on the street.**

 **Suddenly, a siren split the silence of the night, causing Leo (and all the demigods watching), to flinch. This siren was backed up by at least three or four more, racing down the street and seemingly getting louder. Red and blue lights came into view, but they were slowing down as if they were reaching their** target destination.

Leo had a panicked look on his face, slowly rising and backing up even deeper into the alley, dirt on his face allowing him to blend into the shadows until he was almost completely invisible.

"Why didn't he stay where he was?" Percy asked incredulously, looking even more confused then usual, and that was saying something.

"Because, Seaweed Brain, he was probably trying to avoid being seen. He's obviously on the run from a foster home, if the police found him he would end back up in the system." Annabeth, as usual, replied, a half dumbfounded half loving expression on her face as she glanced back over to her boyfriend.

"That makes sense I guess." Percy said, a look of understanding passing through his features.

The sirens continued for another minute or so, and on the screen Leo was holding his breath, trying not to make any movement. The demigods also held their breath, waiting for what would occur next.

Suddenly, out of nowhere, a figure raced into the shadows of the alley, where Leo had started off, and crouched down trying not to be seen.

"What the heck? Who is that?" Jason shouted, only to be shushed by everyone else.

 **Leo and the mysterious stranger were both completely silent, watching the red and blue lights moving past the alley into the night. It was obvious Leo was also observing the new figure, wondering if he could be trusted. Was he a fellow runaway or simply a criminal on the run?**

 **The lights finally stopped flashing by, and the sirens wailed on until they had faded away leaving complete silence. Now Leo was entirely focused on the stranger, who still hadn't noticed his presence.**

 **A loud sigh broke the quiet, followed by a whispered celebration. "Yes! I can't believe I didn't get caught, that was definitely a close one." The stranger muttered, pumping one fist into the air. During this silent cheering he finally turned around, and his eyes met Leo's brown ones which had been boring into his back.**

 **He stepped back with a muffled yelp, clutching his heart like he had just had a panic attack. "Who on earth are you?" He said, "And why on earth are you out here?"**

 **Leo didn't reply at first, obviously still wondering if the man could be trusted.**

" **It's fine, I'm not a murderer. Or a robber. Well, I don't like to think myself as a robber, though I supposed I would count as one. But sometimes you got to steal to live, don't supposed you would know anything about that."**

" **What do you know?" Leo finally spoke, although his voice lacked the air of confidence the other man seemed to have.**

"Why is he even talking to him? He should leave, right now. Who knows what kind of guy this man is? Murderers lie all the time! He's a good 7 or 8 years older than Leo, if I were him I definitely run." Annabeth practically shouted, leaving those in close range to her holding to their ears.

"It's fine Annabeth, if he was a murderer than Leo probably wouldn't be here right now." Percy soothed, leaving them with that dark thought in their heads.

" **Not much, I suppose, although I just met you." The man replied, a look of seriousness dawning on his face for the first time since they had locked gazes. "How about this, kid, if I tell you my name will you tell me yours?"**

 **Leo remained silent, almost as if the first question had just slipped out.**

" **I'll do it anyway, I suppose. Jacob Schulz, at your service." He held at a hand, which Leo just stared at, causing the figure, Jacob, to nervously run it through his dark hair back to his side.**

 **Apparently Leo had started to trust him, because he cautiously whispered, "Leo. My name is Leo Valdez."**

This caused Annabeth to slap her forehead, muttering under her breath "What an idiot."

" **Leo Valdez! It is truly a pleasure to meet you. But why are you out here, on this fine evening, instead of sleeping in a house somewhere?"**

" **I could ask the same of you." Leo retorted, somewhat haughtily, like he was gaining some confidence and beginning to like this guy.**

" **Me? I don't have much of a story to tell. My parent's are dead, and I started a gang with some other runaways I met. I was getting us some dinner when the cops showed up, leading to this delightful encounter with yourself."**

" **A gang?" Leo said, looking frightened again.**

" **It's not really a gang, more like a couple of friends hanging out. Gang would be the official term I suppose, but we don't go around beating people up."**

"Don't trust him Leo!" Annabeth shouted again, causing everyone else to shush her.

" **So, kid, why are you here?"**

" **My mom is dead, my dad is gone, and I'm on the run from a foster home."**

" **A foster home? Why?"**

" **Because the kids are mean and I didn't like the parents. It was easier for all of us if I left."**

Piper and Jason exchanged concerned looks, wondering what could've been so horrible as to prompt a nine year old to leave.

Jacob studied Leo for a few minutes, causing Leo to shift uncomfortably where he stood. "You know kid, if you ever want a place to stay you could live with me and my friends."

All the demigods turned to glare at Annabeth, who had obviously began to say something along the lines of "Don't do it."

" **You mean I should join a gang? I don't think my mom would like that." A look of triumph passed over Annabeth's face.**

" **I told yah kid, it's technically not a gang. We like to think of it as more of a gathering of people."**

 **Now Leo was the one staring.**

" **Look, you don't have to join if you don't want to. How about you stay the night and meet everyone else, and if you don't like them you can leave first thing in the morning. It's better than trying to sleep out here in the cold."**

 **Leo kept staring.**

 **Jacob was obviously becoming more uncomfortable, because he glanced at an imaginary watch and said "Sheesh, it's definitely starting to get late. I have to get going kid, are you coming or what?"**

 **He kept staring.**

 **Jacob started taking a few steps backward, saying "Well, I can't force you. Take care kid!"**

 **As he began to turn around and fade completely into the night, Leo's voice carried through the shadows. "I can leave whenever I want?"**

 **Jacob turned again, slightly startled. "Whenever you want."**

" **And it's not a gang?"**

" **It's most definitely not a gang."**

" **I guess I can stay one night, as long as it's definitely not a gang. Are you sure?"**

 **A grin broke across Jacob's face. "Kid, this is the most sure I've been in a long time. Come on, this'll be fun!"**

 **And with that he whirled around again, this time Leo cautiously following a few steps back. And as they continued to make some random conversation, the television screen again faded to black.**

They were silent for a few seconds, when suddenly Annabeth said "I can't believe he joined a gang."

"Didn't that guy Jacob say it wasn't a gang?" Percy said, looking again confused.

"That doesn't mean it wasn't a gang!" Annabeth responded, refusing to back down.

"It could have been the same type of thing you, Luke, and Thalia had, for all we know. Didn't they find you cornered in an alley too?" Percy questioned, not noticing the annoyed look crossing his girlfriend's face.

"That was completely different! I only trusted them because they could see the monsters. And what we had was most definitely not a gang."

Percy looked like he wanted to respond, but decided not to because he had learned early on he would never win a fight with Annabeth.

"I can't believe he never told us any of this stuff." Piper said, looking hurt that her closest friend hadn't trusted her with this information.

"He probably didn't want to worry you." Jason said, bringing her closer for a snuggle and gently kissing her on the cheek.

"I guess," Piper said, although the hurt look didn't fade completely away.

Hazel just watched the other's conversations and followed Jason's example, snuggling closer to Frank, who also wore a neutral expression.

The T.V. seemed to sense the fact that they were done with their conversations, and flickered back to life once more.

 **A.N. Hello again people! So, to be honest I don't really have a good excuse for not updating. There weren't that many vacations, no untimely deaths in the family, and besides school my life has been pretty stress free. However, at the end of the last chapter I had absolutely no inspiration, and there was a sense of relief that it was over and I could take a small break. Of course, that small break turned into a larger break, and then I still lacked the inspiration I needed to jump right back into the story. I feel like when I started this story I didn't realize how stressful it can be at times, getting updates done and not letting down your readers, who truly seemed to like this story (for which I'm extremely grateful.) Anyway, I'm hoping to space out my updates to prevent that from happening again, although they won't be exactly frequent (considering I have school and lots of work to do, not to mention I'm not joking when I say I'm lazy and a procrastinator). I hope to get out at least an update a month, although I make no promises. I can promise it won't be as long as eight months again, that's for certain. I told myself I had to get in one more update before the end of the year, hence posting on new year's eve, and my new year's resolution will be to have a steady update schedule.**

 **Thank you to everyone who continues to read and review, especially to the people who've managed to find and favorite this story eight months after the last update! I truly was shocked by that. I'm extremely grateful for all my readers, without you I might have given up altogether.**

 **Thanks to all my friends who have reminded me constantly what a terrible person I am by leaving all my readers in the dust, and especially thanks to two who helped me write this chapter before my personal deadline of 8 a.m. today (the 31** **st** **). BABY GOATS ROCK! AS DO ELEPHANTS!**

 **Please leave a review with all your thoughts, and have a happy New Year! Peace out!**


	11. Chapter 11

Disclaimer: I own nothing

Jason POV

When the next set of memories appeared in a burst of static on the screen, Jason was fooled for a split second into thinking that they might actually be happy, which would be a nice break from the current stream of terrible moments that none of them had known anything about. Of course, Hera wasn't that nice, and so the awfulness of watching his best friend in pain came again.

In his defense, the beginning of the flashback didn't look all too worrisome, in fact it looked downright peaceful. Sure, the setting was a little creepy, but looks can be deceiving, right? Apparently not. As the imaginary camera zoomed out, it was obvious that this memory basically continued from the last one, which is to say, Leo was in a gang. Jason noticed that Leo was surrounded by a group of 6-10 people, including Jacob, from the last memory. They were all joking around and laughing, although a few of the older members seemed to be drinking from a suspicious looking bottle, and one look at Annabeth's face said that she definitely did not approve in the slightest.

" **And then the skeleton said, I'd like a beer and a mop!" Leo's voice echoed out from the middle of the group, where he was obviously telling a bunch of terrible jokes (although was getting quite a positive response from his large audience). As expected the other gang members basically fell over themselves laughing, even though the joke probably wasn't even that funny.**

 **After a few more minutes of laughing, Jacob (who was clearly the oldest and therefore the leader) stepped into the middle of the circle. "Okay guys, time to settle down." He waited a few seconds for the few people still laughing to stop, and then continued with his speech. "I have a few announcements. First of all, I trust that all of you have met our newest member, Blake Williams, and will make him welcome in our group. Second of all, we're running low on food, so we're going to have to replenish at some point, most likely in the next week. Okay that's it, time for bed everyone!" With those words everyone in the group got up and started wandering around, save for one boy who seemed a little lost. He looked like he was Leo's age, (which was 9 or 10), which light blond hair that contrasted deeply with the dim light of the hideout. He was looking around, probably trying to figure out where he was supposed to be going, when Leo suddenly popped out from behind him.**

" **Hi! You're Blake right? I'm Leo! I'm 10 and have been here for almost 3 months, so I can show you around!" Leo was speaking a mile a minute, and as a result Blake looked even more lost then before, until Jacob came up next to them to calm Leo down.**

" **Woah there Leo, I think you're scaring him. Blake, this is Leo, he's your age and can show you the ropes of how we operate. Don't worry, he's a little energetic but you'll get used to that eventually."**

 **Blake nodded and gave a half smile, and let Leo guide him away towards the back, still talking rapidly with extravagant hand gestures.**

The screen faded to black for a moment, and Jason took the opportunity to look around at his still conscious companions. They all seemed to have the same opinion as him (besides Annabeth) that Leo was having a good time in the gang, made a new friend, and all in all this had been a good memory. Of course Annabeth was still stuck on the whole "replenish our supplies thing", as it was obvious Jacob had meant stealing and she was not amused in the slightest. "Does he know how much trouble he's getting himself into? He's going to get arrested! Or killed! Or worse!" The rest of them sent bemused glances Percy's way, who then launched himself into an attempt to get his girlfriend to calm down. Once he had succeeded (for the most part) the picture faded back in again.

Subtitles appearing at the bottom of the screen read TWO WEEKS LATER, and the shot focused in on Leo and Blake sitting in front of an old grocery store, looking around cautiously, as if they were staking out the place.

" **I don't get why we have to just sit here, why can't we go inside? This is so boring!" Blake's voice whined from where he was sitting on the curb.**

" **Because Jacob wants us to scout out the store, we're supposed to be the lookout, remember? When no one is coming then Jacob, Ralph, and Kevin will break in and get the food." Leo replied (as everyone pointedly ignored Annabeth's smug gaze).**

" **But that's so boringggg. Why are we always stuck with the lamest jobs? That's no fair!"**

" **Because we're the youngest, and Jacob doesn't want anything to happen to us."**

" **Who cares? Isn't this a gang? We're supposed to have fun, rebel a little bit! Come on Leo, you're no fun."**

 **Leo seemed to hesitate a little bit, as it seemed that Blake was probably the closest thing Leo had to a friend in the gang, and he didn't want to look like a wimp. "We can have fun later, but we can't mess this up for Jacob, they've been planning this break in for two weeks, and if we mess it up not only will we not have any food, everyone else will hate us."**

" **Okay, how about this. We do our lookout job, and then sneak in and watch the fun go down. No one will know, we can sneak out later, and if anyone asks what happened we'll say that we got distracted by something in the window of the shop next door. What do yah say, they'll never know!"**

 **Leo debated with himself some more, seemingly stuck between being loyal with his rescuer (Jacob) or getting into the good graces of his new friend (Blake). After much stalling, he finally sighed. "Okay I'm in," he said, "but if something goes wrong we're out of there immediately."**

" **Deal!" Said Blake, and held out his hand for Leo to shake.**

 **As Leo shook it (albeit reluctantly), a flurry of movement came from inside the store.**

 **A couple walked out of the store, locked in conversation with each other and barely even noticed the two boys sitting there. Once they were gone, Blake opened the door just enough to look in, and said "The coast is clear, the store is empty except for the owner." They nodded to each other, and then Leo let out a series of three shrill whistles.**

 **After a moment footsteps pounded on the pavement, then there was the sound of a side down opening slightly and suddenly all was silent. Blake and Leo nodded to each other, and stealthily crept in the front door, hiding behind the first display and watched as Jacob, Kevin, and Ralph did their work. All seemed well, until the shopkeeper came back from where he had been checking inventory in the back. All of a sudden the air was filled with the sound of the yelling of the shopkeeper, and Jacob telling the other two to grab food and run.**

 **Leo was shivering behind the display, nervously peeking around it, where he was met with deafening screams and retreated back behind the shelter. He looked around for Blake, but couldn't see any sign of his friend, leading him to worry, and slowly get up and peer around for his friend. He was met with no signs of Blake, but in his worry he forgot to be subtle, and soon Jacob saw him.**

" **LEO!" He shouted. "WHAT THE HECK ARE YOU DOING? GET OUT OF HERE!" As he was distracted, the shopkeeper caught up with him, and started whacking him with random items, which he was trying to dodge as he made his way over to Leo. Finally he grabbed Leo's wrist, and dragged him out, where they both promptly broke into a sprint, although Jacob was still holding onto Leo's wrist (hard enough to leave bruises). As soon as they were safely out of range of the shop, Jacob turned onto Leo and began screaming at him.**

" **WHAT ON EARTH WERE YOU THINKING? YOU COULD'VE BEEN SERIOUSLY INJURED IF THAT GUY HAD NOTICED YOU! YOU WERE SUPPOSED TO BE A LOOKOUT, WHY WOULD YOU COME INTO THE SHOP?" As Jacob ranted and raged, Leo tried to cut in.**

" **It was Blake's idea, he wanted adventure, he wouldn't let me say no, it's not my fault!"**

 **Of course he was drowned out by Jacob, who wasn't buying his story in the slightest. "IF IT WAS BLAKE'S IDEA, THEN HOW COME I DIDN'T DRAG HIM OUT OF THAT SHOP? HE'S PROBABLY BACK AT THE HIDEOUT, WHERE YOU WERE SUPPOSED TO GO ONCE THE ALARM HAD BEEN SOUNDED. I CAN'T BELIEVE YOU LEO!"**

 **As Jacob continued his rampage, they made their way back to the hideout, where everyone else looked pretty upset. And sure enough, sitting in the corner with a devious little smirk on his face was Blake. As Leo continued to get chewed out by the remainder of the gang, Blake just sat there shaking his head mockingly. Finally everyone else seemed to tire out, and turning their backs on Leo they all made their way back to the bedroom.**

 **Furious, and barely holding back tears, Leo whirled on Blake, whispering hard enough to have spit flying everywhere. "What was that! The whole thing was your idea, and you know it! Why didn't you step in back there? I thought we were supposed to be friends!"**

 **Blake just stood up, still smirking, and replied with "I don't know what you're talking about." And with that he smugly turned on his heel and left the room, leaving the still shaking Leo to collapse on the floor, where he began to cry until he fell into an unsteady sleep.**

As the screen once more flickered dimly to black, everyone sat in complete silence, until Annabeth (of course) broke it. "I TOLD YOU THAT THAT GANG WOULD BE BAD FOR HIM! HE COULD'VE GOTTEN IN SERIOUS TROUBLE!" Piper and Percy shook their heads and rolled their eyes at Annabeth, although everyone else was still trying to process what happened.

"I can't believe Blake betrayed him like that! What on earth was his problem? The jerk!" A normally peaceful Hazel cried, beginning to rise out of her seat to shake her hand at the television, until Frank pulled her back down.

As Jason again processed another one of Leo's worst memories, he couldn't help but wonder how many more memories Hera was planning on subjecting them to until she was satisfied that they knew their friend.

 **Authors Note: Ok so I'm just going to give up on saying that I'm going to update frequently, because I think everyone reading this story has figured out that that's never going to happen. I will say, that I'm most definitely not going to give up on this story, and that there will most likely be 3 or 4 more chapters coming before I write the finale (and all will be posted before the next century.)**

 **Also, I'd like to say while I did not keep my New Year's Resolution in the slightest, I did manage to update before 8 months had passed, so at least I technically kept one of my promises.**

 **Big thanks to everyone who reviewed and told me how much they enjoyed the story, it definitely impacted me a lot and helped me to get this update up, and I enjoyed reading all of them. Another big thanks to everyone who favorited/followed, it meant a lot that people were still reading this story 7 months after the last update and had enough faith to believe that I would continue it.**

 **Thanks to my amazing cheering squad (especially MG, without you harassing/reminding me constantly it would probably be nine months before the next update lol) MG, SS, LM (I told you it wasn't 30 years), and SJ.**

 **Also to ME, thanks for your amazing suggestions (at 12-1 no less), without you I would still be sitting here at almost 2 trying to think of an idea.**

 **I'm always in need of ideas, so if any of you guys have any suggestions feel free to review and I'll try to incorporate them into the story as I see fit.**

 **Peace out, and here's hoping I update before 7 months next time!**


	12. Chapter 12

Percy POV:

The screen was very dark. The only thing showing that it was even turned on was the faint outline of shadows creeping in from the sides of the display. As a few seconds went by the shadows turned into outlines of trees and bushes, getting slightly clearer by the second. It was getting easier to tell that wherever this was taking place it was outside, at night.

At first everything was still; there was no wind swaying the trees, no rustling, nothing to signify that it wasn't just a picture of a dark neighborhood. But as they focused harder it was easier to make out a faint noise in the background, growing steadily louder by the second. Sirens.

 **Suddenly a brief flash darted across the screen, jostling the entire scene into life. Everything that was calm and still jumped into motion, creating a cacophony of sounds, as if each object was trying to outdo the others. The unseen camera panned around to follow the flash, zooming in as if to draw attention to the mysterious figure. As the background noise settled, it was possible to make out the blur as a person on a motorcycle, despite dark clothes that blended extremely well with their surroundings.**

 **After a few more moments the sirens got louder, and a flash of red, blue, and white lights suddenly appeared, following the motorcycle at a speed far above the speed limit, but relentless in its pursuit. There was still a lengthy gap between the police car and the motorcycle, but the car was obviously closing in.**

 **The motorcycle suddenly slowed down, seemingly playing right into the hands of the policeman. However, as the car finally reached its target and prepared to park, the motorcycle sped up again, swerving wildly into a narrow alley in a last attempt for freedom.**

 **Clearly, the police had employed all of their resources to catch the unknown figure. The alleyway was a trap, and there were two more cruisers parked at the other end, with the policemen out and ready to handcuff their suspect.**

 **There was no other options for the motorcyclist except to surrender, although he obviously wasn't going to give in easily. Hopping off the bike, and ignoring the men closing in on both sides, he began to examine his surroundings. Despite the darkness, he had a fair idea of what he was looking at, and utilizing the lid of a nearby trash can, he knocked out the officer closest to him. Backing up as far as the alley would allow him, he then ran forward and made a desperate leap for a fire escape that had been mostly hidden by the shadows. His fingers grasped at the rungs, and catching hold of the lowest one he began to pull himself up, but by this time the other officers had gathered around the bottom, one grabbing hold of his dangling legs and trying to drag him back down. Kicking wildly, the figure managed to shake himself loose and work his way up the bottommost rungs, although at the top his adrenaline began to fade and his hands lost their grip on the ladder, his body pitching towards the ground. Despite attempts during the fall to latch back onto the ladder, it was a losing battle, and he soon found himself at the mercy of his pursuers.**

 **The one he had knocked out had been roused by the others, and they all looked very irritated, but smug to have finally caught the hooligan who had outsmarted them for so long.**

" **Well well well, look what we have here." The tallest one, who was obviously in charge, said with a smirk. "You think you're so smart, but just you wait. I can't wait to see you rot in jail."**

 **He bent down and dragged the figure to his feet, none too gently, forcing his hands behind his back and cuffing him painfully tight, causing the boy to let out a low moan, even though the rest of his face was locked in a stoic mask that refused to give away the myriad of emotions he was feeling. Strands of his curly black hair covered his eyes, making it hard to see the authority figure who had finished reading him his rights and was steering him in the direction of the waiting patrol cars. His body was suddenly jerked backwards as the officer stopped and bent close to his ear whispering, "You're going to be sorry for the trouble you caused us. Just wait and see." With that, apparently satisfied for the time being, he pushed his charge forward at an uncomfortably fast pace, making him stumble over his feet due to his limited range of motion.**

 **A dim street light at the end of the alleyway caught the face of the motorcyclist as they passed by, revealing him to be a teenage Leo Valdez, wearing a slightly constricting leather jacket that had obviously either been stolen or bought secondhand which accentuated his carefree facade.**

 **The picture suddenly shifted to depict an uncomfortably bright room, where Leo was slumped in a chair at a metal table opposite a large mirror. He was looking around at the limited surroundings, his ADHD obviously bothering him as he tapped a foot relentlessly against the floor. His hands were still cuffed, but had been moved in front of him, although bruising where the cuffs dug into his wrists was clearly visible and his fingers were scraped raw from his earlier fall down the fire escape. Apparently the silence had started getting to him, as he started humming out a fast rhythm and tapping his foot to the beat. The humming turned into words, and he launched into a full out Spanish melody, with the volume getting increasingly louder as he progressed within the song. After a minute or two of his singing (and although he wasn't the worst singer his tune definitely gave off a yowling cat vibe) the door slammed open and the tall officer from earlier sat down across from Leo, who momentarily stopped his singing in order to size up his opponent.**

" **Mr. Valdez," the officer started off in a self-satisfied tone. "I believe we haven't formally been introduced."**

" **I know who you are Officer Wilson." Leo interjected with a bored drawl. "Can we please skip the pleasantries and get to business? I was planning on sleeping at some point tonight."**

" **Of course. When were you planning on sleeping? After you went on a joyride downtown in a stolen vehicle, speeding, and without a permit?"**

 **Leo rolled his eyes. "I was going to return the bike, it's not like they'd miss it. I've passed by it a million times and I don't even think they use it."**

" **Nonetheless, it's still stealing and you can still be charged for it. Not to mention the other countless reports of theft we have on record, including robbing a home and injuring a civilian."**

" **That 'home' was barely a shack and no one was even living there. And the injury was just a broken nose, and the guy was definitely asking for it."**

 **Wilson leaned forward. "So you admit that you committed all of the crimes we have of you on record? That is incriminating evidence and will put you into juvie for a long time, I doubt you'll see real freedom again until you're at least 18. How old are you now? Fourteen?"**

" **Fourteen and three-quarters thank you very kindly, and I can handle juvie. Don't know what you guys will do in your free time though, because you obviously suck at catching criminals. I've outrun you for how long? Six years?" He leaned forward to copy Wilson's posture, and stared him directly in the eye. "In fact, if it wasn't for me and the fact that you've been working my case so long, the department would probably have fired you by now because of how extremely useless you are. Handing out parking and speeding tickets would probably be more up your alley, although you'd be too busy stuffing yourself with doughnuts to actually catch any of them."**

 **Just as Wilson was about to speak again, Leo interrupted once more. "I'm done talking to you. I know my rights, I'm entitled to a public defender, and I won't say anything else until the trial." With that he leaned back into his chair, staring coldly and defiantly at the mirror, until Officer Wilson got up to leave and another cop entered the room to escort Leo to a cell.**

" **Wait a second," Said Hazel, "I thought he went to jail because he kept running away from foster homes."**

"Maybe that was only part of the truth," Annabeth said. "It's possible that he ran away from his latest foster home earlier than we thought, and committed all those crimes on the run."

"That makes sense," Piper chimed in thoughtfully, "The Wilderness School is for all sorts of troubled kids, but running away a few times doesn't seem like it would be enough to get him sent there. I've always wondered if there was more to him getting sent there then he was letting on; he always tended to avoid the subject."

After a few seconds of silent thought they all focused back on Leo's memories as the scene changed one more time.

 **This time they were in a court room, where it looked like Officer Wilson was at the stand, giving a report on the crimes Leo had committed. Leo could be seen in the front row in a suit that seemed to hang off his scrawny figure, fidgeting and examining his surroundings. Next to him sat a very serious looking man who was focused on Officer Wilson's statement, and occasionally taking notes in a thin book. The man, who was most likely the lawyer defending Leo, seemed to stiffen up as crime after crime was listed, as if he knew that there was no hope for Leo's case. On the other side of Leo sat his social worker, who looked very irritated by the proceedings. She liked the boy a lot, but he kept getting into trouble and it seemed like no foster home was ever going to be enough for him. She had heard about all his different escapes, and despite his charming and humorous personality she knew he had run out of options. There was nothing more the foster care system could do for him, and because of the long list of crimes he had accumulated while on the run from the last home she had set up for him, there was little option for him except to be sent to juvie.**

 **Officer Wilson concluded his statement with a smirk, and despite a few questions from Leo's defender, it was clear that all the evidence was solid. As Wilson stepped down from the stand, the judge banged his gavel a few times to restore order despite the general lack of movement from those watching the proceedings, and took a deep breath before speaking.**

" **This Court has found Leo Valdez guilty of all crimes, and will be charging him with four years in juvenile prison." With this statement Leo groaned and despite his earlier shows of cockiness, he clearly wasn't looking forward to spending time in prison. After a pause though, he looked up as the judge began speaking again. "However, as Mr. Valdez's crimes are not entirely life threatening and he shows some repentance for his actions, we are offering him the option of attending the newly created Wilderness School in Nevada, designed to help troubled youth, where he has the option of serving out his time in order to get him away from a life of crime and into a better future. Which option do you prefer Mr. Valdez?"**

 **With a brief glance at first his social worker and then his lawyer, who both nodded at him to take the deal he was being offered, he cleared his throat and stated, "I would prefer to go to the Wilderness School, Your Honor. Thank you for presenting me with the opportunity, and I definitely won't waste it."**

 **With a sharp nod the judge banged his gavel a few more times for no reason and said "I decree that Leo Valdez be sent to the Wilderness School in Nevada until he is 18. No further questions, court dismissed." With a final bang for good measure the judge stood up and left the courtroom, leaving everyone else behind to think about what had just happened.**

 **Leo released the breath he had been holding since he had last spoken, and sighed deeply. School was much better than prison, even if it was supposed to be for troubled kids. What was the worse they could do to him? Make him do pushups? In a burst of laughter he stood up and waited for his social worker to tell him where to go next. As they began to exit he noticed Officer Wilson glaring at him from a distance, to which he responded with a smirk and a thumbs up. Maybe his life would get better after all.**

As the screen faded out once more, the rest of the Seven were left in deep thought. If Leo hadn't told them the complete truth about getting sent to Wilderness School, what else had he lied about? There were obviously major parts of his life that he had never mentioned to anyone, which was understandable. While it hurt that Leo hadn't trusted his closest friends with the hidden parts of his life, it seemed somewhat reasonable. After all, they all had secrets they hadn't revealed to anyone else, including their respective boyfriends and girlfriends. But they were all aware of Wilderness School, and it seemed surprising that Leo had lied about the true reasons for getting sent there. What other "minor" things had he failed to mention over their time together? It was just another thing to add on to the list of things to talk about when Leo finally woke up.

 **Author's Note:**

 **Yes sorry this is a very late update blah blah blah, I think none of you want to hear my excuses for not updating (even though I do have some good ones! In my opinion lol)**

 **Please note that I know nothing about getting arrested or going to trial, considering I've been able to maintain my crime free life, meaning that the only experience I really have with that stuff is crime shows and other fanfictions. So please don't hate on me if what I wrote about that stuff is totally wrong, because I already know it's probably wrong lol.**

 **I would like to dedicate this chapter to my very good friend MG: HAPPY EXTREMELY LATE BIRTHDAY! I KNOW I PROMISED THIS AS YOUR BIRTHDAY PRESENT BUT I THINK THAT GREAT CARD I MADE FOR YOU WAS OBVIOUSLY MUCH BETTER THAN SOME LAME UPDATE TO A FANFICTION LOL. I'M GLAD YOU'VE MADE IT YOUR PERSONAL PRIORITY TO BUG ME ABOUT UPDATING, EVEN THOUGH IT USUALLY STILL DOESN'T WORK! THANKS FOR BEING A GREAT FRIEND YAY** **!**

 **Also, thanks to ME, who took time out of her studying for AP's to help me edit so it wouldn't be full of random grammar mistakes (good luck with Virgil and his smoky dragon cauldron stirring friends! Plus whatever else happens in that story lol), SS, for also bothering me about updating (yet still not giving me a cherry coke…smh), SJ, and LM. Thanks so much to all of my readers for following and favoriting, it's very reassuring to know that people still read this fanfiction even after over 7 months has gone by since the last update. Thanks guys!**

 **(Also, I have planned out the last few chapters, so hopefully I'll manage to get those out sometime within the next century lol)**


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